Education vs. Degree [2015/7/16]

The post from Mises Institute makes excellent points about how student loans work as

subsidies that create useless degrees, creating lot of waste. People often confound

between education and a degree. An education is when you learn something and a

degree is when you fulfill certain requirements and get an acknowledgement/ certification

for the  completion of the requirements.

Thus, a degree does not necessarily lead to more education.

In fact, I have seen more useless degrees that rob people's money and

opportunity. People do not often realize that the cost of a degree is not only the tuition

but all the other cool things you could have done if you did not go to school. In addition,

people magically think that degrees will open doors and boost one's income. This is not

really the case. Many degrees are not really worth the money. Forbes just ran a quick

video showing the best and worst master degrees. Of course, one cannot value the

worth of a degree just by income but your degree is just a hobby or intellectual curiosity

when you cannot really afford it then you should think twice.

People need to wake up and realize that degrees are not the answer. The answer is

knowledge and wisdom. The good thing is that you don't have to spend a fortune to

gain knowledge and wisdom. We have the internet! It is filled with information

(just google, wikipedia, youtube) and it is cheap. Plus, now we have the great MOOCs

(Coursera, edX, Udacity). There is a plethora of good information on the web. You can

even ask questions on Quora if you have questions. You can also get tutoring service

from many online tutoring websites. The point is that you don't have to have to get a

degree to gain knowledge and wisdom and have a more fulfilling life.

At this point, someone always asks but I need to signal my abilities and the best way to

do it is to get a degree. Well, in some cases yes, but in this digital age, you

can show your skills online. You can create blog showing your artwork, data analysis

skills, whatever you are good at. If you are a good cook, you can upload your cooking

videos. You can also participate in competitions such as Kaggle and show your quant

skills. Of course, shining in the internet is like trying to stand out in Noah's flood but

it is possible and has been done by many. You just have learn every day and work hard.

So before you decide to go get a degree, see what can you learn and do without going

to school. You will realize a lot!




From Snapshot Serengeti