Lately I've been reading articles and hearing radio talk about how college isn't what it's cracked up to be, in a nutshell, college is de-valued and isn't a necessity for a good paying job. I highly disagree with this notion, however, I continue to see more and more criticism against attending college and taking out student loans to pay for it, versus not attending at all and finding some niche-related job that will somehow give people the same salaries of college educated workers.
I graduated from a university with a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising. It took me nine months upon graduating to land a job. The actual job search process was daunting and stressful, but there was not shortage of entry-level advertising/marketing jobs available, they were out there, but guess what, they all wanted 3-5 years experience, a bachelor's degree and master's preferred (of course, but they don't wanna pay you for having it).
After five interviews with five different companies, I finally landed my first post-college job as an entry level marketing coordinator/graphic designer. My starting salary was $38,000, low in my opinion for a college graduate in the advertising/marketing industry, but after nine months, I had to take what I could get. Eventually after one year of employment, I got a 3% raise to $39,000, which is still nothing in my opinion. After one and half years of working at my first job, I started looking and landed another job earning $50,000. Now I'm three years out of college from 2010 and I'm making what I think I should have been making at my first job out of college.
On the radio I hear talk hosts say they got their stints in radio and didn't have to attend college. They brag about how they worked their way from the ground up and their hard work and dedication to their craft got them where they are today...well that may be true for people who started out in radio long ago, but that's not the reality for most folks these days. Likewise, I don't think people tell the entire 110% truth of how they actually got their careers.
Then there's the huge beef about student loans and how students should put themselves into extreme debt just to pay for college. As an example, Sean Hannity, a political radio host, says that he paid his way through college waiting tables and having small part-time/full-time jobs here and there. Really? I'd like to see someone actually be able to pay for four years of college on a waiter's salary...and living expenses...that's just an outright lie. I have many friends that get support from their families and don't have to take out student loans, but they still work part-time jobs to have the extra spending money outside of the necessities.
Then I have other friends who went the route of student loans like me. While I worked summers between college semesters, I paid for my college through student loans and grants, and my parents helped me out a long the way until I graduated. Now I'm paying about $400 a month in student loan payments, and will be doing this for the next 20 or until I advance enough in my career to make enough money to pay them off earlier.
Also, I recently got married last year and my wife makes about $30K per year, so our combined gross income is around $70K, we're buying our first house together. She has an associates degree, already paid for by her parents, so she has no debt.
So, depending on what you want to do with your life and what your goals are, I'd personally say that without college and my degree in advertising, it would pretty much be impossible for me to work in advertising/marketing. Maybe I could go work at a local newspaper selling advertising space over the phone and I'm sure that's something you don't need a college degree for, but that's not a career by any means.
I just get sick and tired of hearing people de-value college education. While some people can't afford it, there's definitely many ways to obtain the funds via student loans, but yes, there's a drawback, you will be in debt for quite a while, but I'd rather be in debt working a job I love than flipping burgers (not that there's anything wrong with that).
Anyone here value college? Do you de-value college? Share your opinions/thoughts.
I graduated from a university with a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising. It took me nine months upon graduating to land a job. The actual job search process was daunting and stressful, but there was not shortage of entry-level advertising/marketing jobs available, they were out there, but guess what, they all wanted 3-5 years experience, a bachelor's degree and master's preferred (of course, but they don't wanna pay you for having it).
After five interviews with five different companies, I finally landed my first post-college job as an entry level marketing coordinator/graphic designer. My starting salary was $38,000, low in my opinion for a college graduate in the advertising/marketing industry, but after nine months, I had to take what I could get. Eventually after one year of employment, I got a 3% raise to $39,000, which is still nothing in my opinion. After one and half years of working at my first job, I started looking and landed another job earning $50,000. Now I'm three years out of college from 2010 and I'm making what I think I should have been making at my first job out of college.
On the radio I hear talk hosts say they got their stints in radio and didn't have to attend college. They brag about how they worked their way from the ground up and their hard work and dedication to their craft got them where they are today...well that may be true for people who started out in radio long ago, but that's not the reality for most folks these days. Likewise, I don't think people tell the entire 110% truth of how they actually got their careers.
Then there's the huge beef about student loans and how students should put themselves into extreme debt just to pay for college. As an example, Sean Hannity, a political radio host, says that he paid his way through college waiting tables and having small part-time/full-time jobs here and there. Really? I'd like to see someone actually be able to pay for four years of college on a waiter's salary...and living expenses...that's just an outright lie. I have many friends that get support from their families and don't have to take out student loans, but they still work part-time jobs to have the extra spending money outside of the necessities.
Then I have other friends who went the route of student loans like me. While I worked summers between college semesters, I paid for my college through student loans and grants, and my parents helped me out a long the way until I graduated. Now I'm paying about $400 a month in student loan payments, and will be doing this for the next 20 or until I advance enough in my career to make enough money to pay them off earlier.
Also, I recently got married last year and my wife makes about $30K per year, so our combined gross income is around $70K, we're buying our first house together. She has an associates degree, already paid for by her parents, so she has no debt.
So, depending on what you want to do with your life and what your goals are, I'd personally say that without college and my degree in advertising, it would pretty much be impossible for me to work in advertising/marketing. Maybe I could go work at a local newspaper selling advertising space over the phone and I'm sure that's something you don't need a college degree for, but that's not a career by any means.
I just get sick and tired of hearing people de-value college education. While some people can't afford it, there's definitely many ways to obtain the funds via student loans, but yes, there's a drawback, you will be in debt for quite a while, but I'd rather be in debt working a job I love than flipping burgers (not that there's anything wrong with that).
Anyone here value college? Do you de-value college? Share your opinions/thoughts.
