MACAQUESince nobody really responded to this I'll attempt to do the question justice. Although college provides educational structure and certification that one has mastered skills and acquired knowledge specific to his or her area of study, going to college is much more than the information contained in course textbooks. I go to the University of Washington, and anybody can walk into a University book store and buy all of the textbooks for the classes in any major. As a non-student you can read them, learn them, and will completely miss out on the environment that makes Universities so critical to society. A college degree is necessary to work in many fields, and colleges are centers of knowledge, learning, and academic advancement. Universities fund cutting-edge research, allow professors to devote their time to research, and most importantly, allow for the discussion of new and creative ideas by the 20-somethings that are going to go on to shape the world. There's really no replacement for discussion with an expert in a field in terms of educational value. Talk to a professor for 10 minutes about questions you have or something that you're interested in and you'll see the real value of being at a University. The experience and gamut of perspectives that professors (and other students) offer stimulates thought. Colleges bring thousands of young minds together, nurturing creativity and fostering innovation. Colleges are important as a sanctuary of open discussion just as much as they are a provider of education.
So in other words, it's an academic theme park.
Perhaps I've just had a bad pick, but professors that have inspired me intellectually are in the vast minority (I've had maybe three). The rest just cynically read from their Powerpoints or told me to Google shit (and this is senior-level classes). I'm sure this differs if you actually go to a good school (I'm at University of Utah), yet based on what I've heard from literally every millennial college graduate I know, they've all had a similar experience.
I'm not denying that there's some higher, qualitative value in devoting oneself to institutionalized learning. My point is that given the economic status of colleges at large, I don't think it's unreasonable for people to at least question whether or not its worth it. If college loans weren't preternaturally inflated then we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Look, if you can pay for college without much burden, then yes, it's totally worth it (provided you're interested in it). But if you have to cripple yourself financially for half of your life, then the answer becomes "maybe."
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Graphs are boring, and I hate professors who emphasize them too much in their classes. I just love the philosophical discussions of trade and resource scarcity that economics brings. To me accounting is just unfulfilling grunt work. There is nothing beautiful about it, and I honesty feel that if I pursued accounting I'd be wasting my life.
