Is going to university worth it in 2022? As the costs of going to university are rising in USA and other countries, people are beginning to question if going to university is worth it.
There are many founders who started a company such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates who dropped out of university. Peter Thiel is offering a fellowship and funding to incentivise people to drop out of university.
Elon Musk mentions that it’s not necessary, but all these successful people did go to university (and then they can drop out).
But could Elon Musk have done what he did without a degree?
In 1990, he entered Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Two years later, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics.
Would Seth Godin have done what he did without a university degree?
A serial entrepreneur, Godin has a degree in computer science and philosophy from Tufts University, and an MBA from Stanford Business School.
It’s going to depend on the type of student asking and these three questions. It’s going to be different for each student based on their goals. For Doctors, or accountants, then a degree is definitely worth it, for a business person, or artist, it might not be as valuable for example.
- What is the value of going to a university?
- What are the costs?
- What are the other options?
1) What is the value of going to university?
There are a lot of benefits of going to university:
- Teachers you how to think
- You can become more skilled to get a better job
- Make friends and build relationships
- Certificate value
There are definite values of going to university to be able to meet new people and learn and grow.
The value of getting a degree is also useful in looking for jobs and visa requirements.
The value is not fixed and every student is going to be different. How can you maximise the value of a university? By choosing the best one, and by being proactive to be clear about what you want to get out of the university experience and not being a bum to waste time, going out there and doing stuff.
Just like with valuing a business, there are a lot of ways to measure the value of investing in going to university. What is the value of going to a university? One way is to look at the return on investment of time and money. If you are going to spend $50,000 USD and going to increase your yearly salary by more than $500,000 USD then the value is going to be something like $400,000 USD for you.
2) What is the cost of going to university?
There are two costs, 1) Time, and 2) Financial cost.
The financial cost is quite easy to measure, in terms of how much is the tuition fees, living costs, and loss of earnings that you could be earning if you were working instead of studying.
I think people underestimate the time cost of going to university.
Opportunity cost – what are the other things you can be doing? Is there something you can be doing with that time to that is more valuable?
3) What are the other options?
It’s possible to go straight into working. You can get an apprenticeship or start working on your business. There are successful people who did that and companies that hire people fresh out of school.
If you wanted to study in China, or US, there are very few options outside of universities because they have a monopoly on granting degrees. Although this is opening up and there are some private options that are being created. We expect to see more of this. Minerva is an interesting idea that is an alternative option.
You can consider online programs and learning while you study.
Is going to university valuable? It depends on each student, running through these questions is going to be the way to decide.
