College is an admission ticket for the wage cage. The only thing higher education indicates is how much you are willing to suffer through uninteresting work - which means how much BS your boss can saddle you with like a camel in the desert. Moreover, the only reasons most people go to college today are dogmatic social programming and so that their parents don't disown them as losers. With all that said, college isn't entirely garbage... But first, this picture to depress your day: 

With Biden canceling his cancellation of $10,000 in student debt I wanted to know if getting a college degree is still worth the investment. I think it is. But if, and only if you - or someone that you know - falls into these 3 situations:

1. Entrepreneurship isn't for you

If you want to make over $60,000 and work a regular schedule with benefits, then a BE, CS, EE, MD, MBA, or Nursing (- regularly sched), will get you there.

It's not great, but it is better than being on-call at AutoZone.

Many people struggle to make $60,000 without overtime or hazard pay. College "guarantees" it with the right major. Sure, you can top $60k as a trucker, electrician, plumber, HVAC tech, or a good drafter, but most people don't understand what those fields entail.

I had a friend who worked as a plumber. He was often working in dirty, cramped, and dangerous conditions. And he had to do it while being nice to customers who blamed him for their problems and often took it out on him.There's no problem with making money through a college degree, then figuring out a passion like investing, real estate, gardening, or stamp collecting on the side.

It was a soul-sucking job, and he only made $50k/year.

Life is hard and making a living is hard. A college degree is probably still the best bet for the majority of people.

2. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is cringe.

But it's still a powerful tool, especially for anyone trying to break into a senior leadership role in a large company. If you go on LinkedIn and search up any big company that you're interested in you'll see how many of these CEOs, CIOs, CMOs, recruiting managers, and in-front-of-the-camera talent have college degree or masters. 

My cousin went to Harvard and would always talk about dropping the "H-Bomb." It's when you nonchalantly mention Harvard in conversation so that everyone knows you went there. I know, it's obnoxious and slightly douchey. But it works.

Because of his connections at Harvard, he's now working in Washington D.C. as a lawyer.

If you want to make it big in a Fortune 500 company, having a college degree from a good school is still one of the best things you can do.

If you want to break into stand-up comedy or create your own business you probably won't need it. 

3. You have no other options

If you are not creative and don't have an answer to what to do by the time you're graduating HS then college is your answer.

It's not a great answer, but it is an answer.

That said, please keep in mind that the university system is a profit center.

If you're not careful they will milk your pockets dry, give you a degree that's worthless, and then toss you out into the real world with no job prospects

College became expensive because the state started subsidizing it. When everyone is allowed to sign for a $150k loan for no reason suddenly the costs skyrocket. College used to be exclusive and only for the wealthy. Meanwhile, fast forward to today and you need to put serious effort into college to make it worth your while.

As the former Google and Facebook Techlead said about going to college, "You should be asking your closest friends what risks did you take today and they ask you the same. And to take that one step further, I'd ask my kid: What did you learn from your failures today; what did you learn from your mistakes?"

Long story short, just don't do something like go six figures in debt for a degree in Interpretive Dance. Unless you're amazing at it.

In which case, please reach out to me, because I would love to see that.

Final Thought

The value of a college degree isn't the actual degree but the social networking you do with other students and professors.

The world is run by nepotism and special interests.

If you think getting a piece of paper that says you are a good boy is going to get you a job, you're sadly mistaken.

Some of the largest corporations in the world have courses and training programs for positions that don't require you to have a college degree. They're affordable and sometimes even free but they're for very specific positions which require an upfront commitment on your part.

They're all over Coursera, EdX and Skillshare, even Google will train you to become a digital marketer or web dev and can help place you in a job that starts at $60k. It's worth taking a look.

Everything after high school is a choice.

Like a game of Tetris, you have to make the best decision with the pieces you're dealt. Don't panic and make a decision you'll regret just because everyone else is doing it. Good luck.

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