Do you have a college degree?

[dczech09]

Bachelors in Finance. DW has her Bachelors in Business Communications & Public Relations

[dczech09]

I'm really surprised by how much college-bashing goes on here. So I'm curious how many of you are college graduates. I don't care what your degree is in. I don't care if you are currently working in your field of study. I just want to know if you attended and completed college.

I don't think it is "college-bashing" as much as it is an astonishment as to how much college costs these days. I graduated in 2009 and my total cost of college was about $30,000 when you factor in room and board. Compare that to what my dad paid for college, and it is mind-blowing.

Today, college graduates are saddled with an average of near $40,000 in student loans (if not more). What is even more sad is less than 50% of those who start a 4 year program actually graduate, and a lot of them have student loans too.

College is crazy expensive these days, and a lot of people are beginning to question "is it worth it?" For me, it absolutely was worth it. But then again my price tag was lower and I don't have any more college bills left in the wake

[FLA]

Bachelor's of Science in Nursing. I got a lot in scholarships, almost enough to cover tuition, my parents paid room and board but I was expected to help with that and pay for my books, etc. It's funny, I don't remember the actual numbers, probably because thanks to my parents, I didn't have debt but I appreciated what they did more than they'll ever know.

[disneysteve]

I don't think it is "college-bashing" as much as it is an astonishment as to how much college costs these day

Understood. My college now costs more than 5 times what it cost when I graduated in 1986. Incomes now aren’t 5 times higher. Not even close.

[bjl584]

Bachelor's degree in environmental science
MBA in business management.

[QuarterMillionMan]

AA liberal arts Kapiolani Community College (University of Hawaii)
5 years plumbing school funded by an apprenticeship of the Plumber's Union at Honolulu Community College (University of Hawaii)
BA psychology University of Hawaii
Master in Ed Admin higher education (not K-12) University of Hawaii
Master in social work California State University


Paid cash every semester while working as a plumber so no student loans. I would be digging trenches or carrying heavy piping and thinking to myself that no way could I see myself doing plumbing later in life.

[Fishindude77]

I just went from part time to full time work after high school. College would have probably just been a waste of money and a big party for me for a year or two. I was done with school and ready to get out on my own and start doing my own thing.

[Mjenn]

I have a bachelors and a masters. The Bachelors I had scholarships to cover 50% of the costs and carried 0 debt. The Masters I was not charged for.

At the time it was 20,000 a year, and I paid 40,000 total.

[mo0n]

BS in Criminal Justice. Parents footed most of the bill, I walked away with about 14k in loans.

In the fall, I'm re-enrolling to try to obtain a post-Baccalaureate certificate in Accounting, (I'll be paying that myself).

[AJ444]

Bachelors in Business where I owed 21k graduating in 01 and it got me a professional job bypassing entry level.

Masters in business that my company paid for in 04 and I wouldn't have gotten the promotion to the Director level in Feb without it increasing my salary by 30%.

I know a lot of people where their college education really helped them and I know a few people where it was money wasted.

[JoeP]

BS in computer science. It was before the major was broken into other categories (such as computer information systems, software development) and the pre-internet jobs were mostly proprietary in-house or embedded systems. People graduating with a BS in CS now have tons of education in a broad set of technologies that didn't exist then, or if they did, they were not mainstream. It puts a lot of pressure on those of us who graduated a while back.

College opened a critical door for me. I matured VERY quickly in my first job, and that door opened many others.

[~bs]

I have a degree, but mainly am disgusted with what education is nowadays because of the "educational industrial complex", and how the government and everyone else seems to be pretending to care about kids higher education, when in fact they really seem to be benefiting at their expense.

"college for everyone" and "education at any cost" pushes up the cost of education and dilutes the value of the degrees when it comes time to get jobs

"loans for everyone" pushes up the tuition and possibly places families under staggering amounts of debt.

[WDELTA]

I technically have an associates degree in airway science from the prestigious community college of the Air Force.

I took two classes online from a community college (basic psychology and trig) the rest were CLEP/DANTES credits and “work experience” credits. That was enough for a diploma I guess

[JoeP]

I have a degree, but mainly am disgusted with what education is nowadays because of the "educational industrial complex", and how the government and everyone else seems to be pretending to care about kids higher education, when in fact they really seem to be benefiting at their expense.

I share in your disgust, but for a slightly different reason. Some schools have become indistinguishable from corporations when it comes to money grab, and this is most apparent in college sports. No longer is it about college pride and bragging rights, it has become a huge business revolving around recruiting athletes, promoting, partnering with businesses, media, building bigger venues and facilities...what happened to the education part?

[veronak]

Masters Degree

I'm super proud of my degree, just not what I paid for it