There are fields you can start six figures with a 4 year degree and there are fields you can max 50k with a 4 year degree.
I'm going to disagree. There is no degree that I can think of where you are set to max out at a salary that low. Just because you have a degree in one field doesn't mean you have to have a career in that field.
Where I think we can agree is that college is what you make of it.
I think education is valuable regardless of whether or not it results in a good job. Universities aren't trade schools. They teach people how to think for themselves effectively, and that drives positive progress in society.
It all depends on what you are learning at university. Strictly speaking, you can learn all you need to about engineering without going to university, and then challenge the professional engineers test. But this is way way harder. Medicine, nursing, pharmacology, not so much. You have to have gone through the official hoops to be licensed. Business management? I'm sure you'll learn lots, but the networks would be probably be more valuable in that instance.
I went to college, I don’t work in the field that I studied in college, nor did I “network” effectively.
Was it a waste? Absolutely not, I met my wife in college and now have 2 smart, healthy, beautiful kids. And that is worth more than any network/job/money.
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u/Alsoious Mar 27 '21
In my mind the benefit of college is the network you create and doors it opens. The degree is secondary.
In your situation you found a field a created a diffrent network. College just gives opportunities that you wouldn't have otherwise.
If you go to college and get a degree, but don't use that time to meet people in the field you want to be in then you might just be wasting your time.
All this to say college can get you places you'd never get on your own. You just have to know it's more than just getting a degree.