RE: Experience vs College Degree

$50,000 is not conservative; it's probably about right.

"Investment opportunities" at $50,000/year?  Who's passing out the free
drugs?  A decent car costs half of your before-tax salary...the best
investment opportunity is to save and pay cash for the car.

Here's the real equation: College may or may not be 10K.  Thousands put
themselves through college without going into debt.  Maybe it takes 5 years
and a big part-time job but they do it.  So let's say the 50K career
stagnates for 5 years while doing the college thing, and let's assume a
25-year working career (I'm assuming your "investment opportunities" make @
50K pan out!).  If you're making 50K degree-less, you'll make *at least*
double that with a degree.  So, in 25 years you'll be above the $2,500,000
gross earning mark, way better that 30 years @ 50K (I'm leaving out the fact
that a 6% raise at 100K is a lot better than a 6% raise at 50K).

You're going to have to learn something new some day and a degree including
study of the important stuff (business and technical writing, critical
reading, statistics, economics, finance, marketing, accounting, and
psychology) proves you're more than a very good technician.  It proves you
can learn in a formal environment and it strengthens your "language"
(English, among others) skills.  Did you know that Classics (Latin, Greek)
majors make remarkably good programmers?  I don't know why; they're either
grateful for a job or their mental skills have been refined by working in
other "languages".

Your college instructors won't know every detail of network management or
programming you may know...but they'll know way more overall.  College is
not about learning facts (unless you're in accounting or premed); it's about
learning how to think and reason.  It's an accomplishment, it's an
international common denominator, and it's a door-opener.

If you want to stay at being a very good technician, don't go to college.
College isn't right for everybody, but if you're capable of growing in an IT
career without a degree, you can handle it.  Just remember many of your
college courses will seem pointless!

College offers new opportunities in areas you might not have considered.
You'll make contacts (instructors and students; instructors often have
consulting gigs and need skilled help) and hopefully some lifelong friends.
You'll meet recruiters at college; the fact you made the effort and went
back will impress the kind of people you want to work with and work for.

College does not automatically mean "management".  What is means is you can
choose your own path.

There are lots of other considerations here for Justin: what do his parents
think about college, does he live at home, and has he considered enlisting
in the military (G.I. benefits are pretty good)?

Other suggestions previously posted (Dale Carnegie, writing) have merit.

>From my own perspective (B.A., M.B.A.) the real mileage that comes out of a
degree is being able to relate better to your peers, supervisors, and
customers (both internal and external).  When you ask a question that shows
an understanding of someone else's area of expertise, you've just gained
credibility.  You don't need a degree to do this, but it's not likely you're
going to learn the "important stuff" (above) where you are now.

Justin, if you don't go to college, the best thing you can do is make a
commitment to learning about the world around you.  There's more to life
than programming...at least, that's what I've been told!  My professional
path allows me to work half days...and I get to pick which twelve hours.

-Reeve

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-admin@midrange.com [mailto:midrange-l-admin@midrange.com]On
Behalf Of M. Lazarus
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2002 12:31 PM
To: midrange-l@midrange.com
Subject: RE: Experience vs College Degree

Phil,

At 6/28/02 04:19 PM, you wrote:
>At age 21, definately get a degree.  Even if you have to quit your current
>job.
>You have no idea what opportunities may present themselves by going to
>college.

  I would like to play devil's advocate, from a practical financial
standpoint.  Let's take a look at some numbers.

  Assuming a local college, no out of state fees, no dorming costs and
conservative tuition, let's say $10,000 per year (don't forget books,
student fees, etc.)

  He's quit his job, so there's no income.  Let's say he's making (again
conservatively) $50,000 per year.

  School costs: 4 x 10,000 =  40,000
  Lost income:  4 x 50,000 = 200,000
                             -------
                            $240,000 + any interest due for your student
loans.

  Also lost is the interest or other investment opportunities from the
income flow.  And what about the 4 years of real world business and
technical experience that he will lose out on?  I would rather hire someone
w/ 5 years experience than 1 year + a degree.

  What other hardships will be encountered due to the lack of
income?  Remember that Justin has a mortgage and probably some other
responsibilities.

  So, after 4 years, he'll be out roughly a quarter of a million dollars
for the dubious advantage of: "You have no idea what opportunities may
present themselves by going to college."

  How long will it take to make up the difference???

  I'm not saying that Justin should not go.  I'm just saying that it's not
the panacea that seems to be the popular sentiment in this group.

  My opinion is that it's much more practical (since you already have a
job!) to enhance your value in the field by going to educational
opportunities such as Common, or taking some additional programming courses
such as Java or ILE concepts (if you can find one near you!), etc.  You can
probably show your employer that he would get a reasonable ROI if he sent
you to those, so you may get paid time and the course paid for.  It's a
win-win for you and your employer. JMHO.

  -mark

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