I had assumed it was a Baby Boomer phenomenon. We had blind faith in higher education. The more of it, the better.
After all, we were the first generation in America to have access to college en masse. In high school, the meme was: When you go to college ...
Then came the digital era. The heroes were those who took a look at higher education and smirked. They ranged from Steve Jobs to Mark Zuckerberg.
An addition to that group of education skeptics were those who had bulked up on it, wound up in debt, and regretted the career path they had prepared for.
At the top of the list is editorial editor of Abovethelaw.com Elie Mystal. He had done two tours at Harvard. One at Harvard College. The other at Harvard Law School.
Currently, there seems to be signs of the return of that blind faith in education which had cast a spell on my generation.
In my support group of about 20 people, two proudly announced, as a definite step ahead in their lives, that they were enrolling in college. Yet, the two have no clear notion how they will use that investment of time and money to earn a better living than they are now. Also, it's odd that with the strengthening economy that they would opt for school versus making money.
Several Millennial neighbors asked my advice about leaving their jobs and returning to college to finish their degrees. They are asking the wrong person.
It took me decades to outgrow my education, that is, the belief that there is a right answer and the fear of getting it wrong. What I recommend is that they hold onto their jobs and do the rest of college online. No, they shouldn't disrupt their lives.
Higher education is a big business. Yes, it does produce payoffs for its consumers. In graduate studies, I finally did acquire the ability to think critically. Eventually, that helped land me a ghostwriting/speechwriting job at Chevron. My colleagues in executive communications also had graduate school degrees.
But, buying what the education industry sells has to be done with extreme attention to the economic benefits.
A neighbor invested in a low-cost advanced degree in physical therapy at a state university. Her career is thriving. Her choice was very hard-nosed. On her career path in the arts she was making peanuts.
But those kinds of economic outcomes aren't universal.
Get a second opinion about your marketing and advocacy communications. No pressure. No charge. Please contact Jane Genova, janegenova374@gmail.com or @genova_jane.
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