Is a College Degree/Advanced Education Expense Worth the Price?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#21
people seems to have old fashioned ideas that wives need to be supported
no wives these days are hard at work also earning income, sometimes straight after birth

its more do you have family support as well as financial support for children ie. grandparents and aunties and uncles who can baby sit and not treat your children like slaves or make them go off to work for you when you dont earn enough.

do you have someone there for them maybe not a nanny but a granny! are you going to spend time with your children and not be a workaholic earning so much and giving them all the material things they need but none of the emotional support.

I had a high school friend whos parents were both doctors and I think she was quite insecure and had problems. she had the latest fashions and overseas trips but she was still somewhat miserable. I dont know where that was coming from, but then I was sort of poor and miserable too so maybe it was just a teenage thing!

the more you earn maybe the bigger mortgage you have, but then you get bigger bills and more expenses, so it kind of works out the same anyway, you just get rich peoples problems instead of poor peoples problems.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,943
13,614
113
#22
A college degree means nothing today.
a person is not going to be able to work in technical fields without an education in those fields.
i don't think i've ever heard of self-taught doctors or nuclear engineers, for example.

i could not do the job that i do without a lot of background knowledge. it's complex. school gave me that background.

a person can work in industry or construction, or open a business of some kind, without an education - and eventually earn as much or more than someone who received a lot of training and went into some kind of STEM job.

so, a college degree may be worth a great deal, or worth very little. it depends on a number of things, not the least of which is what kind of degree is it in the first place? what kind of career is a person trying to get into?

if nothing else the college experience is useful training for developing a person's mind, to critically think, to be able to find & parse information, to deal with certain types of stress, to set goals and achieve them, to be able to communicate and comprehend communication at a certain level of complexity.
that can be valuable on its own even if the particular degree isn't relevant to the kind of job you wind up doing.
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,694
9,621
113
#24

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
6,278
2,556
113
#25
These days you can find books to support anything. Some of them might even have some truth in them.

I still want a surgeon to have a college degree before he operates on me.
Exactly....
They have a new ankle replacement surgery. It's not exactly easy. Knee surgery and replacement is easy by comparison. Ankle is much more difficult.

And there aren't as many people who can do the surgery successfully. It apparently is not done here in Nashville. I'd have to travel and be off for 6 weeks at a minimum....then a cane...then finally walking normally again without pain. The removal of all the metal that I got in it to begin with is the tough part. And then aligning what's left with the new fake parts they install.

Education is going to be important in this. I ain't going to anybody who hasn't practiced this several times.
 

Mission21

Pathfinder
Mar 12, 2019
916
808
93
#26
The cost for getting an advanced education is expensive..nowadays.
- Also, some people do not want to go through..4-5 years.
---
I have a college degree.
- & Graduate degree..
- Many years ago.
---
One of major factors..how I got it.
- I had full scholarships.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#27
I often wonder how the christian homsechool brigade then reconcile homeschooling with college education

Is homeschool only meant to go up to high school or can you be homsechooled at college level?! You can do online open learning but is that homeschool? A lot of college education is practical hands on field work, not all of which you can actually do at home. It might require a lab, an extensive library, an auditorium, and going out into the world and doing research.

Sometimes an important part of education is going on campus and experiencing it and learning alongside others who are learning the same things you are

as university is not compulsory it for people who are there to learn as opposed to people there to drink their lives away, because its really on the student to pass the exams. The ideal is for students to study for 3-4 years intensely without having to worry about fees and having to pay etc. They then get student allowance (to pay for food and accomodation) but those who are able to live at home and commute do so.

Hence bursary and scholarships, but by the time I had my bursary/unversity entrance, the bursary had dwindled to $200 which was only enough for about 2 textbooks. The actual cost, not including accomodation, would have been around $700 per paper, and you need to take at least 3 papers pers semester to complete it in 3 years.
nowadays in nz there are scholarships that pay for your first year free

it was getting so expensive that no kiwis (native nzers) bothered enrolling and so the univeristies had to recruit overseas students who would pay the full fee. I know cos I worked at university library, thats what it was like. They didnt even pay you to study to get qualified, only the public libraries did, so it was a no brainer to switch to an employer that was more supportive of their workers.

Nowadays you may get honorary degrees just by being famous, the cynic in me thinks Jacinda Ardern and Taylor Swift got their degrees as a PR exercise for the university lol
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,943
13,614
113
#28

About the Authors
Timothy J. Gordon studied philosophy in Pontifical graduate universities in Europe, taught it at Southern Californian community colleges, and then went on to law school. He holds degrees in literature, history, philosophy, and law. He was department chairman in theology at Garces Memorial in Bakersfield, California, until being “canceled” for his firm opposition to Black Lives Matter—an unjust firing which took on national notoriety. Currently, he resides in Mississippi with his wife and six children, where he writes and teaches philosophy and theology.
Dr. Michael Robillard is an independent scholar, philosopher, and Iraq war veteran. He has held prior academic appointments at the University of Notre Dame, the University of Oxford, and the US Naval Academy. His past writings have focused on issues concerning civil/military relations, veterans’ issues, the ethics of automated technology, and free speech in academia. He is also a devout Roman Catholic, an American, and a patriot. He hails from Whitman, Massachusetts.
 
Jan 12, 2022
798
178
43
#29
No, it is not worth it to give Satan a mortgage to your mind.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,943
13,614
113
#31
The point is did the authors write something worthwhile?
it's interesting how they both went to an awful lot of college, taught at an awful lot of colleges, and are still teaching - but one of them made a big stink in the media about how he intentionally broke the rules at a college he was teaching at, got the reprimand he was told he would get, politicized it then wrote this book.
tells me something about the narrative it's going to take without me giving them $30

but probably i would have to have an English degree & a Philosophy degree to evaluate whether it's a worthwhile book.
or maybe just a degree in Marketing & Business Administration.
or maybe i can tell from the blurb on the back cover everything i need to know without buying the book.

i dunno. i don't have $30 for it.
 
Jan 12, 2022
798
178
43
#32
The Bible is virtually free and easy to access in this time era. Authored by men of God. Read the book, practice and do the things written. Free given to you by Jesus.
 

arthurfleminger

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2021
1,405
780
113
#33
Whether one wants to pursue a 4 year college degree or even a Masters or Doctorate depends on what a person wants to do. Is one wants a career in Medicine/Finance/Teaching/Science/Government/Law/Computer Progamming....etc/etc..... Then one needs to pursue the college degree. But please don't expect the taxpayer to pay for your $hundreds of thousands$ in loans.

And many people would rather work with their hands/outdoors instead. There are many such opportunities that require much less training, yet they pay very well.....ie Police/Fire/HVAC/Electronics/Electrician/Welding/USMilitary
.......etc/etc...........

One needs to figure out what career they want to be spending the rest of your life doing.

A lot of people go through the college route and end up unhappy. I was talking with an insurance agent a few years ago and she told me that her brother went through many years of college to become a medical doctor. He quit his practice and joined the Army as a doctor. Why? Because he couldn't stand sitting in his hospital office all day long, seeing one patient after another.

Me personally, after a tour in the military, rather than go to college,, I decided to take a '1 year technical trade school course' in Industrial Electronics. This one year course provided me with a wonderful and well paying career with Texas Instruments and Honeywell. At one point I decided I would advance my studies to be an Electrical Engineer. But after two years of college courses, I asked myself why. I was really happy at what I was doing and that was the key. The pay/benefits were great. And as my career progressed, I worked on many different types of electronics projects, some machines costing in excess of $200k (and that was 20 years ago), machines used in science, for US intelligence gathering, and for nuclear testing. I worked side by side with many college educated engineers from countries all over the world. I'm not playing up my own importance here, only saying that I had the opportunity to work on many fascinating and interesting projects.

Furthermore, most of the people I worked with in electronics had college degrees, but many college degrees aren't in demand by businesses. so their degrees were sort of worthless, and they couldn't find jobs that demanded history/philosophy/social studies degrees......etc/etc...... Plus, they had to acquire training in electronics also, after their degrees proved useless in helping them find employment.

Almost everyone I know who has a technical/trade school skill is making near $100k annual salary figure.

My whole point is, sit down and think as to what career will make you happy. Whether it requires college or technical schooling isn't important. But sit down and think as to what you want to do.
 

Willow

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2021
435
405
63
ohio
#34
I suppose it depends on what your choice is in careers. Many places offer internship . Rather it be in factories or retail there is always openings for advancement. That way you work and train while being paid. Personally feel that the bible is clear that we are not borrow or owe anyone. But have found myself strayed from that and was a trail I never want to endure again.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
61,115
30,243
113
#35
I worked on many different types of electronics projects, some machines costing in excess of $200k (and
that was 20 years ago), machines used in science, for US intelligence gathering, and for nuclear testing.
Nineteen years ago the photo lab where I worked forked out over 200K for
a digital printing machine. Back then, that was the cost of buying a house.
Now a comparable house would be two million
:oops: If not more...
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,694
9,621
113
#36
Nineteen years ago the photo lab where I worked forked out over 200K for
a digital printing machine. Back then, that was the cost of buying a house.
Now a comparable house would be two million
:oops:If not more...
Yes but think of all the things you could do with a $2 million printer.
 

arthurfleminger

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2021
1,405
780
113
#37
Nineteen years ago the photo lab where I worked forked out over 200K for
a digital printing machine. Back then, that was the cost of buying a house.
Now a comparable house would be two million
:oops:If not more...

You are absolutely correct!!!!!!!!!!!!! $200k in those days was worth a lot more in those days than it was now. Only governments could afford to buy them and they did, they were much in demand. Funny thing is that, with progress in electronics, all those machines, like your $2million printer, are completely obsolete now.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
61,115
30,243
113
#38
You are absolutely correct!!!!!!!!!!!!! $200k in those days was worth a lot more in those days than it was now. Only governments could afford to buy them and they did, they were much in demand. Funny thing is that, with progress in electronics, all those machines, like your $2million printer, are completely obsolete now.
I operated that machine for many years, and when I was laid off two years ago, they shut it down.

Now it sits idle...
 

arthurfleminger

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2021
1,405
780
113
#40
I operated that machine for many years, and when I was laid off two years ago, they shut it down.

Now it sits idle...

My machines your machine are obsolete, gone with the wind. This let's you remember that all things shall pass away, all man's greatest achievements, yet Jesus' words will never pass away. And you know what????????? It's been over 2,000 years since Jesus came to earth and, for sure, His words are still remembered.