Would you take $100,000 to forgo college?

Yeah. Why not. Take the chance, if it doenst work out, then go to school…. No brainer…

Sure. But listening to the discussion last week on this topic, it seemed to me that this is best suited for those who came from background where college educations were the norm. Being a first generation college grad I had no idea what careers or possibilities were out there when I finished high school. I was simply never exposed to the world of business or science or anything other than retail or building trades. I had no network of connections. There is no way I could have found my career without college.

Unless a standardized test delves into a candidate’s psychology, there is no proxy for a college degree in signaling that a person has attained some level of mental and social development (regardless of actual learning). I think it is this traditional outlook that underlies the push to make college available to as many students as possible, and it is this outlook that underlies the income disparity between graduates and non-graduates.

Interesting question.

Before or after tax? After tax, maybe, before taxes, heck no.

I’m all for encouraging young people to become risk taking capitalists instead of encouraging them to become socialists.

I’m not sure if an 18year old kid is mature enough to handle the real world. Besides the classes you take in college their is a lot of growing up to do in college.

Oops

“there” not “their”

Probably, especially at that age. Education is pushed on our society as though you’ll die if you don’t have a college degree. I did eventually get my bachelors, but far more interesting was how my mother used to hound my wife and I about going beyond our associate degrees 15 years ago and finishing the bachelor program. At that time, and for the next 10 years, we were the only two people in our family who were working in our respective fields of study, even if we only had our associates.

I am also reminded of the public disgrace that Lisa Nowak and Bill Oefelein brought upon themselves a few years back with an affair that went bad. They were astronauts, and among the most educated people in our society. Yet, their educations weren’t the magic cure for doing wrong. When we’re tempted to say education is the key, we would do well to remember these two. There are countless other examples.

While it is a great idea, after graduating with a Business degree I would say that my education would have made me a better business manager. So would I have taken the money? Possibly at the time, but looking at it now I would not.

Hmm. A plutocrat is paying a select group of people to forego higher education. Presumably these are smart people who would actually learn in college. Makes sense to me. Plutocrats get their power from having the masses believe the lie that money equals well-being, and that the dollar value of one’s lifetime earnings is the chief measure of success in life. If too many people study things like philosophy, ethics, history, art, music, psychology, etc., that’s a problem for them. Happiness and contentment are bad for the economy.

Keep in mind that those with a four-year degree are still in the minority. Only about 30 percent of working adults (ages 25-64) have bachelor-level degrees and another ten percent of working adults have associate level degrees.

That said, interesting question. Without a doubt, without attending college, I would not have the career I have, the home I have, the opportunities and frankly, some of the personal interests and odd questions that pop into my head because college exposed me to things I otherwise would have likely never sought. College was life-changing for me (grad school moreso).

But I can certainly see where someone who is wants to start their own business would have wonderful opportunities with that kind of capital up front, which would certainly be the right thing for them personally and benefit their community in a number of ways.

Starting a business requires both financing and a good idea. When I was 19 I had neither. If someone had given me $100k to start a business, I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do with it. College helped with that – I learned a bit about running a business (and many other things about life) but still have no great entrepreneurial ideas. I’m not sure that either money or education can help generate those.