The Inaccessibility of College Degrees

While College degrees become increasingly mandatory, some people have taken to using them as markers of intelligence even though they remain inaccessible to many people.

People place a little too much value in college degrees. I’m not saying they’re useless, I’m saying some people are a little too… enthusiastic about them. There are many people in the world who use them as the ultimate marker of intelligence and that’s just not right at all. Let’s be real, all a degree tells you is someone had the access to higher education, they test well, they were able to scrounge up enough money to attend, and they had the ability to focus long enough to get said degree. Nothing on that degree tells you how intelligent that person actually is. They may be able to soak up and spit out information like a sponge, but be vapid as all hell when it comes to common sense, everyday kinds of things.

To be completely honest, there are people without degrees who are more knowledgeable on certain subjects than people with degrees in a subject. Those people actually take the time to understand the subject they are interested in and seek out more information on it. They use what they have learned and apply it to their daily lives. They look at how the concepts they’re learning about tie into the society and world they live in. Many college students do this also, but far too many don’t. Too many people in colleges and school in general only learn enough to pass a test or write an essay and then move on to the the next subject. Yes, they may graduate with a high GPA and a pretty (and expensive) piece of paper, but do they really understand anything they just did?

We also really need to recognize that college still isn’t accessible at all. Many people don’t go to college, not because they don’t want to but because they can’t. Many people drop out of college, not because they can’t keep up with the work, but because they can’t afford to continue. The money involved in going is just one hurdle, but it’s a big one. Before you start with the “just fill out a FAFSA” argument, remember that there are many people who don’t know about it and the process can be more than a bit confusing. Also, what about the people who aren’t interested in accruing tens of thousands of dollars worth of student loan debt? There are many people who don’t qualify for certain grants or some scholarships because they “make too much money” but they (or their parents) don’t have enough to cover tuition, room and board, books, and all other associated costs. Why should their only option be high interest loans from the government and/or private banks? It’s screwed up that society forces people into those horrid choices and then judges them for choosing to not go that route and just go straight into the job market.

(The money issue is a major part of the reason why I believe that college should be free, but that’s a different topic completely.)

The general essence of what I’m saying is college isn’t for everybody for a plethora of reasons. I hate that we force it on kids straight out of high school and that so many place such a high value on it. There are people who judge your entire worth as a person and level of intelligence on whether or not you went to college and what type of degree you have, and that’s not right. Don’t be that person. You don’t know their life and circumstances.