# College Is Not For Everyone **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 23, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801 "2010-09-23T19:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/141 "2010-10-01T06:25:14Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Who is going to pay for all the tens of millions, hundreds of millions more immigrants coming into this country? Who is going to give them all jobs? > 2 million additional new immigrants will come into the United States this in 2010, and another 2 million in 2011, etc. who today has 4 million unfilled job openings? > Of course, you failed to answer the question of: " where are the extra 4 million unfilled jobs that 4 million immigrants this year and next year are going to need?..RIGHT NOW??? Hundreds of millions of immigrants? Really? Do you have any idea how the immigration system even works? It doesn’t sound like it. > [@](#): > > Obviously, you dont have any jobs for all the millions of immigrants coming here, and you also dont have any money to pay(food, foodstamps, housing, clothing,schooling,healthcare,etc) for 4 million immigrants either. > > OK, fine! The immigrants I know are the ones who bought million dollar houses. They are the ones who are pushing their kids to go to Berkeley. Their taxes are going to be paying for your Social Security and mine. I don’t think any of them would have the slightest clue how to get food stamps. As for your numbers, mind giving a cite? Especially for the hundreds of millions flooding our borders? > [@](#): > > It is no skin off my nose, I dont care if you and everyone else want to live in overpopulated poverty for the next 30, 40, 50, 100+ years. I am old enough to check out anyways, and I dont want to be in your overpopulated unemployed country much longer. Have you ever driven across Nebraska? I think it will take a while for us to be overpopulated. Without immigrants our population would be dropping, and then we’d be screwed by Social Security funding shortages. > [@](#): > > I dont want your Soylent Green! Please, your spittle is getting on my shirt. > [@](#): > > I lived back when we had 100 million less people, and back when we had so many jobs that it was a pain for so many potential employers to keep calling us all the time for us to quit and go to work for them. Yes. It really happened, all the time, week after week, year after year, other companies, and headhunters were always trying to hire people away from their current jobs by offering them more money, more benefits, etc. We just had too many job openings but not enough people. I lived back then also. And headhunters still call me, not as many as before the crash - which immigrants had nothing to do with. Good old pure American bankers and mortgage brokers screwed us, so much so that the Mexicans started going back. Your rant, by the way, did not even come close to addressing my point, which was immigrants who start companies here help us all, while non-immigrants who start companies in India take jobs. So, try again. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/142 "2010-10-01T06:45:01Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > The question is whether a modern economy can exist as a mostly “ **service economy** ”. . > > “Service economy” = “ **third world country** ” > > . Service economy = computer programmers, finance, accountants, lawyers, marketing, advertising, consultants, engineers, architects, salespeople and a bunch of other stuff I can’t think of off the top of my head. IOW jobs that require an education. > [@Broomstick](#): > > If every kid has the opportunity to go to college they should have an equal opportunity to go to trade school or pursue some other form of higher education as well. Why? Because some people really would be happiest being auto mechanics or bricklayers rather than a doctor or lawyer, and we need auto mechanics and bricklayers just as we need doctors (and arguably more than we need lawyers). So what’s stopping them? I hear commercials for trade schools all the time. Kids don’t have an equal opportunity to go to college. It’s fucking hard to get into an Ivy League school! I would say we need to stop selling kid and parents on the notion that all degrees are equal. I’ve interviewed a lot of college grads at a lot of schools in and around NYC. They are not all equal. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/143 "2010-10-01T12:22:57Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > > [@Broomstick](#): > > > > If every kid has the opportunity to go to college they should have an equal opportunity to go to trade school or pursue some other form of higher education as well. Why? Because some people really would be happiest being auto mechanics or bricklayers rather than a doctor or lawyer, and we need auto mechanics and bricklayers just as we need doctors (and arguably more than we need lawyers). > > So what’s stopping them? I hear commercials for trade schools all the time. Family pressure. Schools that want their kids to go to _college_, not auto repair school. Media that talks about educational success in terms of who goes to college rather than who pursues additional training after high school. It used to be harder to get loans to go to trade school than to college, though I don’t know if that’s still true or not. It is also my perception that there are a hell of a lot more scholarships for kids going to college than for kids going to trade school, although I don’t know if that’s an actual fact or not. > [@](#): > > Kids don’t have an equal opportunity to go to college. It’s fucking hard to get into an Ivy League school! Trade schools and training programs also have standards. You can’t be a certified electrician if you can’t do math. > [@](#): > > I would say we need to stop selling kid and parents on the notion that all degrees are equal. I’ve interviewed a lot of college grads at a lot of schools in and around NYC. They are not all equal. True. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/144 "2010-10-01T19:41:26Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > > [@Susanann](#): > > > > “Service economy” = “ **third world country** ” > > > > . > > Service economy = computer programmers, finance, accountants, lawyers, marketing, advertising, consultants, engineers, architects, salespeople and a bunch of other stuff I can’t think of off the top of my head… > . …retail clerks, Walmart greeters, salesmen, garbage men, paper boys, nurses’s aides, motel clerks, fast food workers, flea market resellers, census workers, government employees, dock workers, warehouse workers, house sitters, gas station attendants, billboard wearers, stockboys, truck and cab drivers, maids… this is where most of the available jobs are. (the higher educated jobs like computer programming, accountants, engineers, radiologists, help centers, etc are being eliminated, reduced, and outsourced to India and other countries ) I dont see where America changing into a “service economy” (where most people have the same jobs as the people of Haiti and Kenya) is going to get the country out of poverty. Striving to become a nation of burger flippers, retail clerks, and hotel maids is not a very worthwhile, nor profitable, goal. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/145 "2010-10-01T22:51:03Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > Service economy = computer programmers, finance, accountants, lawyers, marketing, advertising, consultants, engineers, architects, salespeople and a bunch of other stuff I can’t think of off the top of my head… > > . > > …retail clerks, Walmart greeters, salesmen, garbage men, paper boys, nurses’s aides, motel clerks, fast food workers, flea market resellers, census workers, government employees, dock workers, warehouse workers, house sitters, gas station attendants, billboard wearers, stockboys, truck and cab drivers, maids… this is where most of the available jobs are. > > (the higher educated jobs like computer programming, accountants, engineers, radiologists, help centers, etc are being eliminated, reduced, and outsourced to India and other countries ) > > I dont see where America changing into a “service economy” (where most people have the same jobs as the people of Haiti and Kenya) is going to get the country out of poverty. > > Striving to become a nation of burger flippers, retail clerks, and hotel maids is not a very worthwhile, nor profitable, goal. I don’t see a lot of my elite private college undergrad and MBA program peers working in burger flipper jobs. So clearly not all those jobs are disappearing. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/146 "2010-10-01T23:21:06Z")
[quote=“Voyager, post:139, topic:554801”] > [@Susanann](#): > > Are you aware that Andy Grove, one of the founders of Intel, is an immigrant? That not all immigrants are of the unwashed masses trying to steal our jobs? That I know of several who have founded companies here giving jobs to lots and lots of people. Exclude them, or make them feel unwelcome, and they will open up companies at home and we will suffer a net job loss. I like your first two points, but I don’t think we need to worry about hurt feelings at the usual anti-immigrant frothing driving them away. 😛 There is more money to be made here than many other countries, driven individuals aren’t easily dissuaded from capitalizing on that fact. The many immigrant business owners I know personally just chuckle and shake their heads at this point. No one is stopping native-born Americans from starting or buying their own businesses. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/147 "2010-10-02T01:30:52Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > > [@Susanann](#): > > > > “Service economy” = “ **third world country** ” > > > > . > > Service economy = computer programmers, finance, accountants, lawyers, marketing, advertising, consultants, engineers, architects, salespeople and a bunch of other stuff I can’t think of off the top of my head. IOW jobs that require an education. No wonder she’s pissed. ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/148 "2010-10-02T03:44:15Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > Time tested to be completely ineffective. > > > > The great thing about uneducated people is that they just seem to “know” everything without having to be constrained by things like “facts” or “historical precedent” or “academic scrutiny”. > > Sorry, but I lived thru the 1940’s, 1950’s, and the 1960’s. Back when America actually made things, good quality things, back when anything stamped: “Made in USA” meant quality and when everyone in the world wanted it . . . > BTW, we also had very little debt, less traffic, no Soylent Green, and there was no such thing as road rage in America back in the good the old days . . . > Bottom line: I am certain that my world of the 1940’s up thru the 1960’s was MUCH!!! much better, much more prosperous, more secure, much safer, and less crowded, than yours is going to be over the next 30 or 40 years!!! We really need to introduce you to **Starving Artist** ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/149 "2010-10-03T20:19:01Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > > [@echo6160](#): > > > > \ > > > > “College should be available to anyone who wants it” will mean something wholly different when we know what we want…as opposed to what we THINK we want. > > Well, would you at least agree that college should be available to anyone who would be able to fully take advantage of a college education regardless of their ability to pay? > > I believe that Germany has free college for all IF you can pass the entrance exam. Then there is free master’s degrees for all IF you can get into a state funded master’s program. Then tehre are free professional degrees and Phds for all IF you can get into THOSE programs. > > Sure you end up hurting some feelings when people realize taht they can’t be lawyers just by paying a boatload of money to some barely accredited law school and you tell them its because they’re not smart enough or hard working enough but I prefer that to telling the really bright kid who wants to be a lawyer that he can’t because he’s got to go pick fruit. Well sure…but now you’re getting into a fruitless discussion about a societal arrangement which does not exist in our country… Go Germany. Good for them. But it ain’t gonna happen in USA. There’s too much money to be made by selling “hopes and dreams” in the form of college. That’s the mark of a true capitalistic economy…damn the people, just get me my money! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/150 "2010-10-04T02:16:01Z")
> [@echo6160](#): > > > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > > > Well, would you at least agree that college should be available to anyone who would be able to fully take advantage of a college education regardless of their ability to pay? > > > > I believe that Germany has free college for all IF you can pass the entrance exam. Then there is free master’s degrees for all IF you can get into a state funded master’s program. Then tehre are free professional degrees and Phds for all IF you can get into THOSE programs. > > > > Sure you end up hurting some feelings when people realize taht they can’t be lawyers just by paying a boatload of money to some barely accredited law school and you tell them its because they’re not smart enough or hard working enough but I prefer that to telling the really bright kid who wants to be a lawyer that he can’t because he’s got to go pick fruit. > > Well sure…but now you’re getting into a fruitless discussion about a societal arrangement which does not exist in our country… > > Go Germany. Good for them. But it ain’t gonna happen in USA. There’s too much money to be made by selling “hopes and dreams” in the form of college. That’s the mark of a true capitalistic economy…damn the people, just get me my money! > > ☹ True, for at least three reasons: 1. We let you in on my campus if you can breathe a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere and pay us. It doesn’t seem to matter if you’re illiterate or innumerate. 2. Too many people have unrealistic goals. 3. Getting a degree is no guarantee of anything. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/151 "2010-10-04T03:25:01Z")
It seems like what many people mean when they say “college isn’t for everyone” is that almost anyone can go to college now if they can get their hands on enough money, even stupid people. And if stupid people can go to college then my degree is no longer proof that I’m smart and amazing. Except that these days the market requires a college degree for almost any job, that’s just the way it is these days and that means more people are going to college. Yes, the fact that almost anyone can get a degree now means college degrees have less value than they did back when only the fancy folks got to go to college. So you’ll have to find some other reason to consider yourself amazing. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/152 "2010-10-04T08:57:47Z")
> [@echo6160](#): > > Go Germany. Good for them. But it ain’t gonna happen in USA. There’s too much money to be made by selling “hopes and dreams” in the form of college. That’s the mark of a true capitalistic economy…damn the people, just get me my money!☹ Blaming the capitalist bogeyman may feel good, but it doesn’t deal with the reality: the large majority of the money being made by selling hopes and dreams is going either to non-profit private schools or government-run state schools. The only reason it’s possible for students to go into debt on a useless degree is because the government makes it possible. What kind of idiot would give pretty much any 18 year old who asked a low-interest loan for $25,000, which he will invest in … well, he’s not really sure yet. He’ll figure it out sometime in the next few years, and he’ll pay us back over the next couple decades (with like a 3% yield for us). That is exactly what the government does every day, and we accept it because it’s \*politicians \*selling “hopes and dreams.” The Obama administration has said they want to start requiring for-profit schools to meet certain student-achievement benchmarks in order to qualify for student loans. That’s a great idea, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough. We need to limit the flood of student-loan money going to people who are not going to graduate. But any politician who tries saying “since there aren’t enough lawyer jobs to go around we’re going to limit the number of law-school student loans” is going to be crucified, branded a racist, etc., and voted out. The problem, as always, comes back to we the people. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/153 "2010-10-04T12:07:41Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > It seems like what many people mean when they say “college isn’t for everyone” is that almost anyone can go to college now if they can get their hands on enough money, even stupid people. And if stupid people can go to college then my degree is no longer proof that I’m smart and amazing. I don’t think I’m amazing. I do think I’m entitled to the nursing lab I’m _required by state law to have_ in order to learn how to be a nurse, which is now “temporarily” closed because we don’t have the funds to pay a teacher to supervise it. But we somehow still have the funds for millions of dollars in remedial education for people who can’t hack Math 101. Yeah, I’m bitter. But hey, you want a nurse who can’t place an IV line and 1000 more people who might be ready for Math 101 next year or, more likely, will drop out? Fine by me. But your arm may very well be the very first one I get to stick an IV into. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/154 "2010-10-04T14:21:50Z")
> [@furt](#): > > The only reason it’s possible for students to go into debt on a useless degree is because the government makes it possible. Let’s keep in mind that is also the only reason a light of bright, motivated people are able to get useful degrees. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/155 "2010-10-04T16:59:00Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > > [@furt](#): > > > > The only reason it’s possible for students to go into debt on a useless degree is because the government makes it possible. > > Let’s keep in mind that is also the only reason a light of bright, motivated people are able to get useful degrees. Not the only reason (most colleges give at least some full scholarships), but certainly one of them. As I said: there are no easy answers. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/156 "2010-10-05T00:18:06Z")
All this sounds like a bunch of sour grapes to me. I always thought the reason people went to college (especially the good ones) was so that they could get professional and financial opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them. And college degrees don’t have “less value”. More and more jobs require one. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/157 "2010-10-05T00:53:01Z")
> [@furt](#): > > > [@echo6160](#): > > > > Go Germany. Good for them. But it ain’t gonna happen in USA. There’s too much money to be made by selling “hopes and dreams” in the form of college. That’s the mark of a true capitalistic economy…damn the people, just get me my money!☹ > > Blaming the capitalist bogeyman may feel good, but it doesn’t deal with the reality: the large majority of the money being made by selling hopes and dreams is going either to non-profit private schools or government-run state schools. The only reason it’s possible for students to go into debt on a useless degree is because the government makes it possible. > > What kind of idiot would give pretty much any 18 year old who asked a low-interest loan for $25,000, which he will invest in … well, he’s not really sure yet. He’ll figure it out sometime in the next few years, and he’ll pay us back over the next couple decades (with like a 3% yield for us). That is exactly what the government does every day, and we accept it because it’s \*politicians \*selling “hopes and dreams.” > The Obama administration has said they want to start requiring for-profit schools to meet certain student-achievement benchmarks in order to qualify for student loans. That’s a great idea, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough. We need to limit the flood of student-loan money going to people who are not going to graduate. But any politician who tries saying “since there aren’t enough lawyer jobs to go around we’re going to limit the number of law-school student loans” is going to be crucified, branded a racist, etc., and voted out. > > The problem, as always, comes back to we the people. So, when we “follow the money” we end up with _politicians_ keeping their jobs by selling hopes and dreams. Still seems like there’s somebody somewhere saying “damn the people, just get me my money”. I truly believe there’s nothing anybody can do about it, because, as we have seen, something else always “comes up”. War, oil spill, assassination, Guantanamo, another Bush. The truly worthwhile causes will never be achieved, because there’s too much money being made, and whenever anyone gets some steam rolling, something else comes up and throws a wrench in the spokes. But I still think it’s mainly about the money…I see college ads and I think…if you’re such a great college, if what you’re _selling_ me is so worthwhile, then why do you have to advertise so much? You’d think a great product would fly off the shelves on it’s own. We don’t need millions spent on billboard advertising, tv commercials, mass mailings, etc. They are selling a product. Hence…making MONEY. Whether it be the schools themselves or the politicians pushing the laws that make it so damn easy, it’s all a bit too capitalistic for me to ascribe the superior motive of “education” to it. Yeah, there’s education in there…but it’s like the tiny bit of whole grain in the granola bar that’s covered with sugar. Is it worth it - will it truly benefit you? I say for most people, no it will not. Happiness and contentment is easier achieved through other means. An expensive degree for a high paying job (you may not even get) just doesn’t cut the mustard for me. And I’m NOT apathetic. I work hard…just not for edjamicashun. When we live in a society that affords an acceptable standard of living to people who get a liberal arts degree, or a history degree, or a major in engineering with a minor in horticulture, maybe I’ll go get one. And I’ll push my nephews and nieces to get a degree. And I’ll start a thread right here saying “College is for Everyone”. And I’ll even offer up my property for a billboard touting the secondary educational institution in the area. But today, and tomorrow, and probably next year, college is NOT for everyone. It’s just too damned expensive and the chance you’ll land a job to pay off that debt is just too small. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/158 "2010-10-05T04:41:50Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > All this sounds like a bunch of sour grapes to me. > > I always thought the reason people went to college (especially the good ones) was so that they could get professional and financial opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them. > > And college degrees don’t have “less value”. More and more jobs require one. Yeah, that’s what I think. I went to college and it worked out great for me. I don’t know of anyone for whom it was a mistake. Theoretically, yes, but in real life, no. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/159 "2010-10-05T04:55:57Z")
> [@echo6160](#): > > When we live in a society that affords an acceptable standard of living to people who get a liberal arts degree, or a history degree, or a major in engineering with a minor in horticulture, maybe I’ll go get one. And I’ll push my nephews and nieces to get a degree. And I’ll start a thread right here saying “College is for Everyone”. And I’ll even offer up my property for a billboard touting the secondary educational institution in the area. Ummmm. We do. Are you trying to tell me that most people with liberal arts degrees do not have an acceptable standard of living? I think you would find millions of mid-level office drones who would disagree! ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801/160 "2010-10-05T05:18:34Z")
[quote=“furt, post:152, topic:554801”] > [@echo6160](#): > > **What kind of idiot would give pretty much any 18 year old who asked a low-interest loan for $25,000, which he will invest in … well, he’s not really sure yet. He’ll figure it out sometime in the next few years, and he’ll pay us back over the next couple decades (with like a 3% yield for us)**. That is exactly what the government does every day, and we accept it because it’s \*politicians \*selling “hopes and dreams.” > . **We need to limit the flood of student-loan money going to people who are not going to graduate**. . About what I bolded: So you expect every college freshman to know their major the day they arrive on campus? And how can you predict in advance who will or won’t graduate? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-is-not-for-everyone/554801.md?page=9)