Great question!

We’ve always been told to get good grades in high school, so we could go to a good college. Study hard in college, so we could get a good job with our expensive degree.

Work 45 years at said job. Retire at age 67. Grow old in Florida. Pass on.

Really? Sounds like that “Birth, School, Work, Death” song by the Godfathers.

College is not needed unless you need to acquire a specific skill to pursue certain professions like becoming a doctor, an engineer, a teacher, or a lawyer. These professions require specific skills that can only be earned and/or credentialed through post-secondary schooling. In the 1980s, there was a reported positive correlation between years of schooling and salary. So everyone thought they “needed” a college degree. The more letters after your name, the more you’d earn. As a result, colleges began to compete for students with things like rock-climbing walls, on-campus restaurants, and many other “shiny things” that have nothing to do with learning. This has more or less commoditized some (bullshit) degrees.

The more you learn…

Even still, the more you learn the more you’ll earn. However, it depends on what you learn. I remember when school was a house of education. Reading, writing, and arithmetic.

You can do a lot with the three R’s. And even in the 21st century, many skills are taught on the job or through apprenticeships and such.

If you can read and write and do basic arithmetic, the world can be your oyster even without advanced degrees.

Obviously, advanced skills like delivering babies, performing orthopedic surgeries, and building skyscrapers require much more specialized knowledge that would be challenging to acquire without secondary school. This was the reason universities came into existence. The acquisition of one of these degrees will usually have a good return on investment.

Unfortunately, many students these days are majoring in BS things like Elizabethan poetry, German folk dance, or left-handed puppetry. (Yeah they exist!) Naturally, these students struggle to pay off their student loans as they are often relegated to minimum wage jobs.

So if I skip college, do I just follow my passion?

In the words of Mike Rowe, never follow your passion. It’s too fickle. But always bring it along with you.

Here’s his rationale. Just because we’re passionate about something doesn’t mean that we’re any good at it. Have you ever seen the first few weeks of American Idol or X Factor? This is when the shows air the world’s most awful singers. But the participants believe that they’re totally awesome, because they passionately belt out their favorite country ballads in the shower every morning.

I feel for these folks, but they may be suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect. If we don’t ever challenge our skills (or at least compare them with others who actually possess the skills we seek), we live in a bubble

Follow Your Skills!

Instead of following your passion, consider following your actual skills. Everyone is great at something. This may indeed mean heading off to university. However, it could mean auto dealership training on salesmanship. Or a Dale Carnegie course in public speaking. Or an online course on podcasting. Almost any skill can be learned, practiced, enhanced, and monetized and pursued as a career.

Every one of our students is good at something. And anything we can do to add to their talent stack (a term coined by Scott Adams) is a great strategy for increasing their probability of success. Following our inborn skills augmented by other complimentary talents has been a demonstrated winning move for many happy and successful people.

Scott Adams believes that each new complementary skill roughly doubles our chance of success.

Conclusion

So do you “need” to go to college to be a success? Not in the 21st century. Although the goal is still to be learning machine, university is not needed. Gathering skills that complement our innate talents is enough to be successful, build wealth, and own our time.

Until next time…

Remember that success is a planned event. Believe in yourself.

Pay attention, do the work, and don’t give up!

And don’t forget to check out my new YouTube channel!

www.youtube.com/@PlanetNumeracy