Because the initial increase in pay and lifetime increase in earnings is well worth it. Why do so many people get car and house loans they take more than 2 years to pay off?
Because it doesn't necessarily have to cost that much. There are world-class universities in Europe, Australia, Japan, etc. that don't cost $60k+ a year.
> Because it doesn't necessarily have to cost that much.
Makes no sense to me. Any person who thinks something is more expensive than it can be; can start his own college and win over the market while making a lot of money.
How can a person claim to know the value of other people's labor ?
> Makes no sense to me. Any person who thinks something is more expensive than it can be; can start his own college and win over the market while making a lot of money.
No, because there are enormous barriers to entry. We can, however, see that many other countries have similarly good universities that don't cost as much per pupil.
> How can a person claim to know the value of other people's labor ?
Every person who has ever hired someone does that.
Eh, I tend to disagree. Great university's for sure, but the large majority of universities (particularly those accessible to anybody) reside in the United States. Now, I do agree that a university education doesn't have to cost as much as it does, but the scale of world-class universities in the rest of the world is dwarfed by the United States. Maybe students should not stop coming to US schools if they cost so much, as well. Idk?
Apologies, I meant to type "the large majority of great universities". Obviously there are more universities across the planet combined than there are in the United States.
1. Those are a very small portion of the total available jobs. Even if every 18 year old had the aptitude, there aren't enough of those jobs.
2. It's a LOT easier to get into all of those fields with a relevant degree. As noted elsewhere, a degree is a strong signal that you can perform at least some of the work.
Most companies that hire for those jobs in practice require a college degree to get to the interview stage.
Also: youth with nontraditional backgrounds (e.g. women, ethnic minorities) obviously begin the IT hiring process at a disadvantage. Having a 4-year degree can level the playing field with "traditional" applications possessing only a HS diploma.
America is one of the most entrepreneurial countries on earth.
There are plenty of fields that you can enter with no college degree and build your way up to a great living. Even for very "white collar" jobs we are starting to (slowly) move away from a pedigree-based economy towards a skills-based economy.
