Growing up, arguably the number one piece of educational advice that I most received was “Go to college”. This is a sentiment that many of my peers agree with as well. This one simple line was drilled constantly throughout my high school years. In fact, it is drilled in to our heads so much that many high school students don’t consider any other option as a viable alternative. But does that mean this advice is wrong?
In the past couple of decades, we have seen the cost of a college education rise exponentially. What used to be affordable for a middle-class family is no longer, but the expectation for attending has noticeably increased. In our modern economy, the primary benefit to attending college seems simple; to get a job. It is a means to an end (with the right degree).
Now, before I continue, I want to address another commonly-used argument for attending college; the people you meet and the experiences you make will develop you as a person in ways that other options can't provide. I both agree and disagree with this statement, depending on the person. "Experiences" is a subjective term, simply because we all experience things differently. If a group of people share an experience, lets say bungee-jumping, each one of them is going to experience it in a different way. The experience of bungee-jumping of any individual in the group is a cumulation of all their previous experiences up to that point.
Like I mentioned earlier, the "value" of college for many (if not most) people is to get a job. But, as we've seen, with more and more of the population graduating with degrees, the overall value of a Bachelor's degree has fallen. The concept isn't new, and many of us know this. Many people continue to attend college, but their experiences are not necessarily leading them to a job. The obvious question that I have continually asked myself is “What if I can reach the same end with different means?”.
Traditionally, the alternative to a college education are trade-schools. Many trade-schools offer subsidized tuition and generally are less than 4 years. However, the subsequent jobs one can pursue are extremely limited in their overall scope, due to the specialized nature of the training. College is unique in the sense that it teaches students a little bit of a lot of different things. It can, in theory, prepare oneself for a variety of different jobs in different fields (In practice, this is generally far from true). The question remains then, why is there no obvious alternative?
Programs like coding bootcamps are filling that void in a niche field that is in high demand, but I feel that other fields need similar crash courses to offer to students who know what they want to do. As someone who was in that boat all throughout high school, programs like Coding Dojo are amazing because it allows me to learn just what I want to learn. That in itself is valuable, because I am not wasting my time worrying about grades in other classes that might be irrelevant. It cuts away the fat and gives you just what you need to know.
I think we need more and more programs like this. Programs that prepare students for a certain type of job, and then gives them extensive resources to land a job. What I would personally like to see is companies who might sponsor such programs, and then hire those who passed. Many jobs could utilize this approach, as it benefits both employers and job-seekers.