The Waste of a College Education
Our culture idolizes education. Having a degree from a university makes you somebody in most people’s mind. I know it doesn’t matter to the Lord, that is for sure since the “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19). “A recent article in The New York Times about the mountain of education debt owed by college graduates — an average of $27,600 — reports that “fewer students than ever say taking out loans to attend college was worth it.”Dave wrote this about universities in the comment section on my blog.
“I’ve often said that college was a joke, overall, and simply a meal ticket that was a waste of time and money, having said that my business degree from a major university was a 95% waste of time. And that was 40 years ago. After a career in commercial banking I have not changed my mind.
Now I see college not as simply a substantial waste* but as a death mill with: 1) ridiculous costs; the burden on families and government, 2) as an anti-biblical bastion pushing a PC cram-down without freedom of thought, 3) teaching young adults to waste time and become a burden, disengaging them from the real work-a-day world, 4) it delays marriage and the seriousness of family, 5) it is an incubator of immoral sexual behavior, 6) it trains all to get used to women leaving the care for the household. Phrased another [and frank] way: it trains up lazy, self-serving, sexually immoral, thoughtless, non-contributory, a-biblical leaches on life that have just left everyone [parents, students, government] in big debt.
While colleges started with proper motives, it all started to unravel when it originated women’s colleges in the mid 1800s, taking women from the home, selling all that they should be ‘in the gates of the city’ conducting business alongside men. It helped make a mockery of marriage.
There are a handful of disciplines where college is helpful/ necessary [maybe for 20% who attend college] but ’on the job’ education is the way, and much less costly.”
I posted this on Facebook the other day and as you can imagine, I received many angry comments.
Dennis Prager, my favorite radio personality, agrees with Dave. He believe universities along with the Hollywood and the media are what have caused our nation to become so evil. He thinks only those who want to become doctors or something along this line should go to college since they actually need an education and can pay back the debt. Dennis wrote, “Suffice it to say, therefore, that vast numbers of college students outside of the sciences learn too little, rarely have their minds opened and rarely learn to love learning. If you major in English, for example, you are far less likely to immerse yourself in studying Shakespeare than in deconstructing him and others dismissed as Dead White European Males. Our colleges are dominated by ‘post-moderns’ and other nihilists for whom seeking truth is regarded as a reactionary fraud, not an academic ideal. For these professors, deans and presidents, the primary purpose of the university is to mold students in their images — people alienated from America and from God.”
It was mostly educated university students who voted for Bernie Sanders. Mr. Sanders wants to tax people up to 90% of their income, thus taking away all incentive to work. Yes, I do agree that for some men a college university is important, especially for men who need to support their families and are going into the medical field but I will never believe that a university education is important for the masses since it accomplishes exactly the opposite of goodness or godliness.
“I am as sure as I am of Christ’s reign that a comprehensive and centralized system of national education, separated from religion, as is now commonly proposed, will prove the most appalling enginery for the propagation of anti-Christian and atheistic unbelief, and of anti-social nihilistic ethics, individual, social and political, which this sin-rent world has ever seen.” – A.A. Hodge (Yes, I understand this quote concerns sending children to public schools but universities are giving the same results.)
“He that is not with me is against me.” -Jesus
Matthew 12:30
27 thoughts on “The Waste of a College Education”
When we were still courting, my now fiance had to field a bunch of questions about this and me from his family. His parents are both university professors. He was not fond of his mother never being home and when she was, she was too busy with school work or too tired from working. They were initially horrified that I had “only an Associate Degree in Biology” and not a Bachelors or even a Masters. He said I owe no school loan, if I wanted to go back he would support that, and he would be happy with someone who finished high school so I exceeded his expectations already. He’s a college professor like his parents and said he wanted a lady who truly wanted to be homemaking as her occupation at least while children are growing up. He also has said many times that his future wife would not ever have to work out of the home if she did not want to.
While I agree that there are numerous problems with the way colleges are run these days, some behaviors college grads acquire through these years are less than becoming, and college isn’t for everyone or necessary for every job; I do believe that attending college can be done in a financially responsible manner to ease the burden of debt. And it is us, as parents, who are responsible to teaching our children how to be financially responsible and college can be a good way to ease into adulthood while still enjoying a parental net.
For instance, when I was between the ages of one and five, my folks saved between $100 and $500 a month which they invested wisely. When I was preparing to enter college, I was sat down and told how much money I had to use for school and we worked out a budget, and it was made clear that once the money was gone, it was gone and it was up to me to work or deal with the loans. During school, I also worked between 14 to 40 hours, depending on the quarter, to supplement the savings. When I graduated, I was in debt by $5k and was able to pay this off in a manner of two years by making regular payments thanks to the job I obtained due to my education.
As I prepare for my firstborn, my husband and I will embark on a similar pattern of financial responsibility. The difference is that I would like to put the money in a trust so that if the child chooses not to attend school, the money will be available for whatever they decide in life, but at a later date (around 25). We are worried that giving an 18 year old thousands of dollars might encourage the opposite effect of being financially responsible.
You have met and are going to marry a great man. Congratulations!
While some of the anger at your facebook post is from those that will never surrender to scripture, I suspect that a few are more anxious than they are angry ….because they are effectively saying “well, what else are we supposed to do?”
My belief is that the church has been the biggest culprit in all this, having endorsed this a-biblical education model all the way up to so-called ‘Christian’ universities. The church cannot teach Christ when it won’t teach marriage —for marriage is the very model of our relationship with Christ.
This discussion is bigger than can be afforded here but the church does not get what marriage is. I’m serious. And, since it does not get what marriage is, it does not get what [who] Christ is. Liberals have endorsed homosexuality, same-sex ‘marriage’ and transgender restrooms because they [unconsciously] see the hypocrisy of the church, a church that does not effectively differentiate male and female, in God’s design.
I’ve made note to many a pro Christian marriage organization that they are wasting their time in politics until they get the church to return to God’s model. The goal of scripture is to reform us to Him, and that comes from surrendering to His Word, to Christ [the Word] in marriage. And that is the model for male and female marriage.
This is a harsh message because we have had generations of this, and everyone alive now has grown up in this education model – seen nothing else. But today is the first day of the rest of our lives ….for Him, or naught.
Did you use the degree you graduated with, Samantha, because few today do? I did get my teaching credential but couldn’t wait to just come home and be with my children.
I looked up the cost for universities today and found this: “According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2015–2016 school year was $32,405 at private colleges, $9,410 for state residents at public colleges, and $23,893 for out-of-state residents attending public universities.” These numbers don’t even include room and board. By the time your children grow up, if the numbers continue to climb, it will be outrageous which I believe is a good thing. Maybe fewer and fewer people will decide to go to college as many already are deciding.
Teaching financial responsibility, however, like your parents did and you are doing is a good thing!
As a matter of fact, I do indeed use my college degree and feel that if I did not have the degree, I would not be able to to enter the field so easily (if at all). I, with my parent’s guidance, chose an in-state school with a professional practice program, which allowed me to gain real world experience, compensation (which supplemented living expenses), and connections (which allowed me to secure a position in the field upon graduation).
As we prepare for this birth, I plan on decreasing hours work and when we move to my husband’s country, I will be homeschooling (and traveling!). Regardless of future plans, I relish the fact that regardless if my child chooses advanced education, we are able to provide a financial nest egg for our child’s future which is a direct result of our educational achievements.
Absolutely! Yes, some professions need a college education, but for the majority it boils down to a marketed illusion that we are somehow in control of our lives. That we can at all times choose where to work, what to do and purchase items we cannot otherwise afford. But what happens in an economical emergency which is out of our control? We cannot eat our framed piece of paper. We would have to rely on our self-sustaining skills which are diminishing because it has been swept under the rug as outdated knowledge from our grandparents’ day. Also women are leaving the home and viewing homemaking tasks as useless. The generation who grew up through the Great Depression holds an astounding wealth of knowledge; if only we had enough sense to listen.
* advanced education, or not
(typo, whoops!)
I can see in retrospect that college was a waste of my time and my parents’ {particularly my dad’s} money. {I was not a Christian then.}
If a man is going to work in a STEM field {science, technology, engineering, mathematics} or in law, a degree might be needed. In most other cases, however, it’s not worth it.
As for women, I fear that many will get stuck in the labor force, even if they don’t want to be there, as a result of having a degree. People expect you to use that degree if you have it. And many parents–even Christian parents, want their daughters to have degrees “just in case,” as you’ve written about many times, Lori.
I have just been asked by single women who want to grow up in the ways of godliness and want to be married and have children to write something for them. Going to college shouldn’t be their automatic reaction to attend until married, especially since college doesn’t prepare them for any of the ways of godly and feminine womanhood.
You are so right, Holly. If we were to go into another Depression, most careers would be useless today. Learning the survival skills of farming, gardening, canning, sewing, taking care of animals for food, and all the other skills women of past generations were very familiar are not familiar to us today at all.
Homemaking skills will never be useless, especially when they involve raising and training up the next generation.
I agree, Lady Virtue. Back in by day at least college was affordable to many but now it is not and so they are left with mountains of debt and a job that doesn’t provide enough money to pay it back.
The “just in case” would be better served to keep families intact and churches obeying the Word when it comes to widows so they can stay home with their children. If a husband were to die then the extended family and/or church would help provide for the widows.
The issue of college like many issues is one that the person needs to seek the Lord’s will about. I would say that a Christian woman who is single can and perhaps should stay in school and improving herself, BUT she must understand that if she is to go to college she must avoid the ones that are left-wing brain-washing factories. Junior colleges can be a better place to sidestep the leftist and sinful teachings, but even in these schools our kids found some real horrifying things thrown at them in the name of education. Lori does well to expose the pitfalls of higher education, but each one must seek the Lord as we all step around the mud and filth of this culture in making a true Christian life for ourselves and our community. A solid Christian college is the way to go if you are headed to college after getting your GE’s done at the city college.
Just out of curiosity, where did you get the figure about Sanders wanting to tax individuals up to 90% of their income? I knew he wanted to raise taxes on higher income brackets, but the 90% seemed quite high.
Well, I did a cursory google search and found that the max figure is 54.5% of income and 54.5% of capital gains for individuals making upwards of $10 million dollars a year. Which, when you think about it, makes a bit of sense seeing how those individuals make most of their money through capital gains which are taxed at a lower rate currently than income. Here’s my source: http://taxfoundation.org/article/details-and-analysis-senator-bernie-sanders-s-tax-plan
I do know that Sanders promotes a free education plan which two-thirds would be paid by a tax on Wall Street and the remaining by the government. I’m not sure the feasibility and the site I found this info on (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/apr/04/bernie-s/bernie-sanders-says-wall-street-tax-would-pay-his-/) is unsure if it is possible as well.
Perhaps you’ve mixed up a percentage in regards to education and not taxes? I’m just looking for clarification as I’ve not heard that stat
Thanks in advance!
“The remarks clarified a question raised by statements he made earlier in the campaign. In an interview with CNBC’s John Harwood, he said that he didn’t think a top rate of 90 percent would be too high, also citing the fact that it was around that level under Eisenhower. Indeed, it was 92 percent in the 1950s, but since the 80s it has fallen far below that.” – From https://thinkprogress.org/bernie-sanders-backs-off-from-support-for-a-90-percent-tax-rate-a81ab70c1cb2#.1pu7mbgww
And that “government” you wrote about paying for education is the people since all the money the government has is from those people who are working hard for their families. Higher education isn’t a “right” as many believe today. Government’s job isn’t to give a ton of hand-outs. It should be to protect the people and a few other things. It’s way too big and intrusive today.
I meant no offense, only wanted to know the source. I have zero interest in a political debate especially since it does not matter what Sander’s policies are as he is not president-elect.
Thankfully! 🙂
BIOLA is one of the best. Dennis Prager said there is just a handful of them left but even the few, unfortunately, are full of feminists who want careers over child bearing. Hopefully, if they chose the route of college, they will be learning from godly, older women.
This is really interesting, as the UK has moved from no-fee degrees to being more expensive than the USA, in just 20 years.
This is madness! (For men and women.)
I went to university as a single woman and I can see both sides. I agree with you: the debt that is made isn’t right, especially if you don’t “use” your degree. Have I used my degree {a BA in English and History}? No. Therefore, in many ways, I could practically and financially say it was a waste of time. But, before the Lord, has it really all been for a waste? Not at all. I know it was God’s will for me in so many ways – from during my time there to now. It’s made me a better wife and mother. I can hold intellectual conversations with my husband’s peers and colleagues, and therefore, represent him well. I never dreamed we would intend to homeschool our children, but I see now that getting my degree was a big part of God’s plan for our family. It made me even more of a writer and deepened my passion for true literature, as well as having a bigger perspective on our culture today because of my understanding of history. There are just so many reasons my degree, despite the debt and the fact that I’m not “using” it in the traditional sense, that getting my degree is part of God’s plan for our life. I never want to be a career woman and I don’t intend to work until my children have left the house. But working to get a degree has made our family life the richer for it, and is a blessing for us through God’s mercy.
I understand and agree with this post however every situation is different. Some women may never marry and there is nothing they can do about it- if no man asks her to court what can she do?
What if a women grows up in a non christian home? Would it be wise for her to live in that environment until she gets married (if she ever does?) Or would it be best for her to move out and get a job or go to college to be a nurse or a teacher? Christian colleges are very expensive usually, so maybe she should even go to a secular one. I don’t know, but there seems to be a lot of women in my church circles who are staying single for life, simply because the men in their church are not interested in marriage or other reasons.
The Apostle Paul states that unmarried women should live for the Lord and be holy in body and in spirit. Universities do the opposite of this but it is up to them to pray and decide what they want to do with their lives until they get married or if they never get married. Blessings, Kaitlyn!
Am a young woman 22 years old and am graduating in electrical engineering degree this year by God’s grace. And am cheering you on. I was forced by my mom to continue my masters degree but not after reading this… I have been feeling that it was all a waste of time and there’s much stress and competition with men in such fields. Again mother forced me to complete this education. Honestly I can’t wait to get it over with…keep preaching Sis your changing lives, there are many listening young ears who need your advice and guidance.
God bless you!
Still can’t believe there’s such a great woman of God paving the way before us!
I want to quite the office job, I want to be a Godly woman and I want to be at home but will no money . But if i continue to work maybe no chance to married. Can you please give me some advices ? I am 27, single .
Do what you can to prepare for being a wife and mother. Learn homemaking skills. Maybe get a nanny job and care for children.
I know this is old but: my degree HAS gone to use despite me not working. I studied Fsmily Studies. This has taught me how to be a good, effective, Godly mother.
For most, a degree today would put them in steep debt which would keep them from ever being able to be home with their children unless they married a very wealthy man.