College Degree, is it worth the money?

This morning I saw tweet from @EARN in which they shared article by PEW Research Center that stated that  “Most Americans say a college education is not worth the cost. In fact, 57% say that college students receive only a fair (42%) or poor (15%) return for the money they and their families spend on their education.“

And the question posted by EARN was that do we Agree or Disagree if going to college is worth the cost anymore.

And by the way, EARN is a Non Profit Organization that provides tools for low income working families to buy a house, get college degree etc.

I responded that I do Agree that its not worth the money anymore, since for last few years, tuition costs have increased tremendously. But it also depends what an individual is trying to get out of college and college degree.

In my case, I went to school to earn my BS in Electronics Engineering and then MBA but I currently work as Project Manager in Online marketing and I work on SEO/SEM, Adwords, Social Media marketing campaigns, writing Blog posts etc and managing online marketing campaigns for my clients. What I am trying to say is that whatever I need to know in order to perform for my current job responsibilities, I did not learn it from college, I self taught myself. I read various SEO blogs, marketing books, You Tube (amazing source if you want to learn anything) etc.

So does that mean that money spent on my college degree was a waste?

Ummm No and Yes.

No, I wouldn’t consider it a compete waste since I made great contacts with fellow students and college professors; college helped me discover who I am and what I value as a person and whom I want to be and of course I did learn. But was the education received worth the Cost and Time spent, that’s different story. Also, it depends on what you are going to college for. eg: if you want to be in Medical field then yes college is a great place to go but if you want to have career in marketing or technology field, it can be self taught.

Yes, because as far as education is concerned, I could have learned the skills and information that I learned via my degree through so many online resources. And as I mentioned above, whatever I need to know to perform my current job responsibilities, I learned 100% of it via Free online resources. You Tube, How stuff works, Infinite Blogs etc have plethora of information available about anything and everything. So, if you are committed to learning and are self disciplined you can self learn but if you require a structured environment and don’t have the self discipline then college would be worth the money for you.

Another question comes to mind is: What about having degree listed on your Resume when applying for a job?

Well, having a BS or MS degree on your resume definitely helps you get through the door to an interview. But once you are in, its all about what you know.

Having a degree tells the recruiter/interviewer that this individual went through school and knows something about the field he/she is applying for and is credible. But that can be compensated by developing your online identity as an expert by building your own blog, you tube videos, etc in the field you are interested in. If you are interested in Online Marketing, you can write a blog about online marketing techniques, and what you think about them, how they can be improved etc and come across an expert. That could compensate for not have an actual college degree.

To summarize, college was good for self discovery, making contacts or medical related field etc but as far as learning a skill in concerned, there are so many FREE online resources that act as substitute for a college class room. So, it very subjective and relative to what an individual wants to get out college and is the money spent worth the outcome.