POLL: Is A College Degree Still Necessary?

Current Events
Once upon a time, a college degree was your ticket into almost any career choice imaginable. However, today’s bachelor degree is about the equivalent of a high school diploma, with major companies requiring a master’s degree or more for a high paying position.  Oh, the times they are a changin’.

For those who take a ride on the college education train, most are finding themselves $50,000 to $60,000 dollars (or more) in debt. With an entry level starting salary averaging $30,000 per year, no guarantees that a job will even be available upon graduation and exorbatant interest rates in repaying student loans, new grads are finding themselves in deep debt with a degree that might actually be useless.

Rosalyn Harris, an unemployed single mother who had never gone to college, thought getting a degree would be her ticket to a new life.  So at age 23, she enrolled in a criminal justice program that left her with $22,000 in student loan debt. She spent months after graduation searching for criminal justice jobs without ever getting a single call back.  In fact, her finances became so dire a year after graduation, Harris eventually settled for a minimum wage job stocking shelves at Victoria’s Secret.

“My sole purpose of going to school was bettering my life for me and my son,” she said. “But now I wish I had never gone.”

Guy Billups eagerly enrolled in a master’s program for acting, hoping his eventual degree would catapult him to the top of the audition rosters for acting roles on Broadway.  However, once he realized that only 10 of the more than 50 current Broadway shows were non-musicals and of those 10, only 2 African-Americans were being employed, he quickly did the math and dropped out of the program thousands of dollars in debt.

Current Events
For education purists, a college education remains a MUST.  However, for some in the real world, a 2 year degree, a specialized training program, or a la carte training and on hands experience has begun to trump the traditional 4 year degree program.  Many computer and technical careers don’t necessarily require a degree, but rather a certified training program with tons of “know-how” experience.  Certain careers can provide training obtained online.  Most careers in acting or music don’t require a degree at all, but merely a natural ability to make the magic happen.

Granted, for anyone wishing to be a doctor, lawyer, etc., a college degree (and beyond) is a requirement. But for those of us in computers, telecommunications, public relations, journalism, entertainment, medical and legal support and others, a 4 year degree and tens of thousands of dollars of debt may no longer be worth the effort.

So, what do you think?  Is a college degree still necessary?