General Discussion

Degree creep has been the reality now and it has been getting worse over time

For the most part it’s just a way for HR to have an arbitrary weeding out process. We’ve built an economy over the last few decades of a lot of non value added work that just pushes paper or bits in a computer around. Few of those jobs required sitting in a classroom for four years. We’re due for a reckoning.

Now I get the debate between teaching skills vs. a broad liberal arts education. Universities teach few marketable skills (in most degrees), partly because that’s outside the scope of their mission. The latter isn’t for everyone however. I have known people that simply did not thrive in a traditional classroom environment, but led successful careers in skilled trades or other positions that required technical skills, but without a requirement of an actual degree.

It’s not a matter of whether you need more education beyond high school. You almost definitely do for most positions now, whether for the roles you mentioned (law and health care are state sanctioned often requiring a licensing to practice), or any sort of skilled trade.

One thing I’ve noticed is that in Europe there is a greater push for co-ops and apprenticeships giving the opportunity to learn and earn at the same time.

This debate shoudnt be ideological. It’s a matter of practicality and allowing everyone to thrive in a career that best fits their own anbilities and interests. I’m not a fan of all aspects of European education (tracking at a very early age is way too rigid and doesn’t allow second chances for early screws like me), but false promises of additional lifetime earnings and career success aren’t cutting it for many. Subsidizing education debt while propping up bloated university budgets is benefiting only a few at the top. One of my more recent regrets is taking out loans for a graduate degree. Sure, it was a good expiremce learning, but I feel suckered in by the marketing and the average salaries after. I would have been better off just investing that money in an index fund. Instead I’m paying compounding interest, vs gaining from it.