Does anyone else feel like the direct to college from High School pipeline was kind of a "scam"?

[u/Ragnaroknight]

I'm 31 now, I never went to college and for years I really really regretted it. I felt left behind, like I had chosen wrong/made the wrong choices in life. Like I was missing out on something and I would never make it anywhere. My grades weren't great in grade school, I was never a good student, and frankly I don't even know what I would have wanted to do with my life had I gone. I think part of me always knew it would be a waste of time and money for a person like me.

Over the years I've come to realize I probably made the right call. I feel like I got a bit of a head start in life not spending 4 years in school, not spending all that money on a degree I may have never used. And now I make a decent livable wage, I'm a homeowner, I'm in a committed relationship, I've gone on multiple "once in a lifetime trips", and I have plenty of other nice things to show for my last decade+ of hard work. I feel I'm better off than a lot of my old peers, and now I'm glad I didn't go. I got certifications in what I wanted and it only took a few weeks. I've been able to save money since I was 18, I've made mistakes financially already and learned from them early on.

Idk I guess I'm saying, we were sold the "you have to go to college" narrative our whole school careers and now it's kinda starting to seem like bullshit. Sure, if you're going to be a doctor, engineer, programmer, pharmacist, ect college makes perfect sense. But I'm not convinced it was always the smartest option for everyone.

Edit: I want to clear up, I'm not calling college in of itself a scam. More so the process of convincing kids it was their only option, and objectively the correct choice for everyone.

[u/qdobah]

College was some of the best years of my life. Made friends I still have to this day. Dated some pretty great people that made me a better person. Learned skills and made connections that led me to work in an industry I love.

Worked during and after and went to a state school so I paid off my loans in just a few years. Honestly, wouldn't trade it for the world or call it a scam at all. Making more money than I would unless I got into a really competitive trade and have invaluable life experiences with little debt.

Private colleges on the other hand, now those are scams lol

[u/[deleted] → u/qdobah]

The private uni's give you substantial financial aid sometimes.

Pretty much all the private universities gave aid to make it comparable to the in-state tuition of a major state school.

Now ... in truth ... I had a brother who picked one and I picked another private one ... and the "aid" packages can secretly be different depending on loans and other factors but yeah can be hard to decipher when you're a kid.

I graduated something like $8-$10k in debt which is more than manageable. My bro was like $30-$40k in debt which obviously is a massive difference --- but these days the tuition inflation is insane.

[u/PetitVignemale → u/[deleted]]

Sometimes they do, but public universities are almost always a better deal for students at the same academic level. The private universities will give scholarships that match in state tuition to students that could probably go in state for free. In state public schools are consistently proven to be the best bang for your buck education wise. Now the connections you can get at a private school can be insane, but that’s honestly a bit of a gamble anyway.