Can all the things a college degree promises — like credibility, hireability, security, and love — really be yours without that piece of paper? Then why invest the money or the time?
—
Do you remember being young and hearing about all the wonderful things that a degree would do for you?
Fame, fortune and pretty girls all waited for you to get your degree. Then they would collectively show up at your door and beg to come in. All because of the beautifully framed document that hung above your mahogany desk, adjacent to the massive cherry wood shelving which housed some of the books you had written.
|
I have some news. It can be good or bad news depending on how you take it. But the value of that degree is nothing!
|
Life would be so great after you had your degree!
But that’s not true is it? Maybe you have that degree and the reality show hillbillies are more famous than you. Perhaps you are thinking about a degree, but the pretty girls all prefer the guitar player over the pre-med student. You may have an uncle who has his degree, but his fortune will come only when he gets the right scratch ticket at the gas station (where he works).
◊♦◊
What is the real value of a degree? I’m not talking about what your high school counselor said it would be worth. What is the marketable value of your degree right now? I have some news. It can be good or bad news depending on how you take it. But the value of that degree is nothing!
Whoa Henderson! You had better calm down and re-think that last sentence! There are a lot of people who make a great living thanks to their degree. Who are you to tell them it’s worth nothing?
I will tell you who I am. Later. The truth is that there are much better sources regarding the value of a degree than me. These are people and places that you wouldn’t dare call by their last name in a disparaging manner. Places like Forbes Magazine (which technically you do call by their last name, but really it was the tone I imagined you would use that bothered me.)
In this article, Forbes lists billionaires who decided against college. Some you know; Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg always seem to show up in these types of articles.
You may say “Sure but I’m not brilliant like Steve Jobs and don’t have a world-changing idea like Zuckerberg. I just like to drink and make arts and crafts for my home.”
|
In most professions this will result in your getting a job (if you get a job) with a median annual salary of $35,080.
|
You are in luck!
Because the list also includes people like John Paul DeJoria, who heads up Patron tequila, and David Green, founder of Hobby Lobby. This does not mean that you can drink and hot-glue your way into success. Obviously there is much more to it, but it does show that a degree is not always the doorway to financial freedom.
◊♦◊
You have to be wise with the money you make once you make it right? I mean come on, there are lottery winners all around the country who are broke in less than a year because they didn’t manage it well. So going to college to get the degree in finance makes sense because you need all the financial smarts you can get to maintain that huge bank account right?
Yes. You do need to have some understanding about money and investing in order to keep your millions. Money does not handle itself. So here is a quick lesson on investing that I learned in this article from Fox Business.
The average cost of a four-year degree in the U.S. in 2013-2014 was between $17,016 and $40,917. In most professions, this will result in your getting a job (if you get a job) with a median annual salary of $35,080.
But Fox Business lists five careers that pay over $60,000 a year without a degree. Some are well over six figures!
Perhaps the intelligence that tells us not to spend $40K to make $30K, is the same as the intelligence that we use to become rich. I think the logic that goes into a decision not to pursue a degree, may lead us to our dream in life.
Maybe that’s why Dan Miller decided not to get his Ph.D.
◊♦◊
Dan Miller is the author of the New York Times best seller 48 Days to the Work You Love. In his latest book, Wisdom Meets Passion, Dan explains his decision not to write his dissertation. His degree was finished. He was one body of work away from getting the paper that would hang on his wall and forever tell people he was a success.
But he decided not to write that paper. In a nutshell, his thinking went like this.
I can write a small book (the dissertation) that will only be read by the people who are required to read it. Or I can write a small book that is so powerful millions of people will not only read it, but will change their lives for the better. And that book will make me a small fortune.
That is exactly what happened. He spent the same amount of effort on his bestselling book as he would have on his dissertation. Only the book made him much more money, because it made more impact in the world. He chose to spend his time working on what yielded results, which is what I talked about in this article.
|
I am just your average dropout with a successful internet business who lives a dream life here in Hawaii. Oh yes did I mention that I am a high school dropout?
|
This leads me to, me. Earlier we asked who I was to be giving out such ridiculous opinions as “the value of a degree is nothing”. Well I am John Henderson. I am the neighbor to Larry Ellison (who is also a billionaire dropout). Well, not the type of neighbor who shares lawnmowers or has barbeques. I live on Maui, which is next to his island of Lanai.
Yes his island. Larry bought Lanai (one of the Hawaiian Islands) a few years ago and since I can see it every day, I figure that we are neighbors. But being pals with my good buddy Larry does not give me the right to make outlandish statements like I have in this article.
I am just your average dropout with a successful internet business who lives a dream life here in Hawaii. Oh yes did I mention that I am a high school dropout? Sorry I must’ve let that slip. I am not a millionaire, though I do make a very good living. None of those things qualify me to make the claims I have made.
What qualifies me is this — even though I am a high-school dropout, I was also a college professor.
I was hired to build and teach a degree program from the ground up. I handed out scholarships to my new program that I wasn’t qualified to receive with only my GED.
I had this opportunity, not because of a degree, but because of my knowledge and skills.
|
People don’t hire the paper that hangs on your wall. They hire you!
|
Knowledge and skill told me I could do more good in the world, and make more money, by leaving my job teaching college. The same knowledge and skills that have helped me build my business, have also made me more money than my two previous bosses combined.
People don’t hire the paper that hangs on your wall. They hire you! They want you to apply your knowledge and skill to help solve their problem. The value of a degree is nothing if it doesn’t come with knowledge and skill. Knowledge and skill is what makes an education.
Institutions are not the gatekeepers to education. You can begin your education today for free. Podcasts, blogs, and email giveaways abound. In the worst case scenario they will cost you a trip to the library where you may not get a degree, but you can get an education.
Degrees aren’t truly valuable without the education that accompanies them. Whether you decide to pursue a degree or not remember that the value is not in the degree, it’s in the education.
—
Photo: Flickr/Nazareth College