You may have heard of the phrase or statement that colleges "provide the tools to achieve success." What this means is that if one wanted to apply themselves in a certain career, a college experience may grant them the ability to achieve this. That the college experience is of the highest authority in terms of achieving and applying knowledge in any given profession. It is a cultural incentive, which believes that a person with (specifically) a college degree is somehow superior than any other person who does not possess one. This has been proven factually, to be a complete myth. In fact, it so much of a myth, that the majority of successful entrepreneurs state that they have either dropped out, or did not attend college in the first place. A successful person who did not attend college could be seen as an outlier of sorts to this narrative, but the fact that successful people dropped out of college, to pursue independent goals, is an imperative fact that college is to some degree unnecessary. In fact, these specific people are so successful, that they are substantially more successful in their fields than the majority of college educated citizens. These people include the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Julian Assange, Travis Kalanick and many others. Despite this fact, colleges seem to be hitting all time highs in terms of student attendance. Not only is there substantial evidence of success outside of the college environment, but the access to retrieve free education is growing by the day with advances in Internet technology. Being able to download PDFs of famous books for free, is an extremely easy feat, that requires only a person to do a simple google search (despite this process to be illegal). What's more disturbing, is that the prices of attending a college education is increasing in huge amounts (specifically in the United States but still in various other countries as well). The guidelines for entering these institutions, have also been gauged to breeds of human intelligence, with the advent of utilizing the SAT test to its full capacity as a means to categorize human intelligence, much like the biased IQ test.
The real question is, why is this phenomenon occurring? Well for many reasons, but the main point is that its a cultural problem. Children of the Millennial generation are grown to worship the college institution as their means for success. Parental guidance insures that a child who does not do well in school is doomed for failure, and that avoiding college education is a strict one way street to achieve zero financial benefit. This mentality has entered in the employment division, where a college education certificate is a requirement, despite the fact, as I mentioned above, that there is a substantial amount of successful people who did not need a college education to understand their field of profession.
Another main issue occurring in the college environment is the amount of students who are "undecided" in their major. The fact that there are students who are undecided proves that there is a substantial amount of people who shouldn't be in a college institution. A person should be learning because they are certain about what they want to study and how to achieve it. The other problem is the amount of students who are pursuing an arts education, despite not needing it whatsoever. Again, the amount of successful artists in any given field of artistry that have not been inside a college institution is in fact greater than the amount of entrepreneurs I have listed above. It is no surprise, that a student who majored in art of any form, has incredible difficulty finding employment. This is due to the fact that they have sacrificed both their time, money and energy for an education they could have easily given themselves. The money used for the institution could have also been given them the ability to purchase their own necessary equipment and art spaces if needed, whereas they only achieve these resources by renting them from the college institution, of which is obviously not given back to them once they graduate.
The argument many pose to the necessity of a college education goes something like this "Well, what if you want to become a Doctor, or a Lawyer." This is refutable by the fact that a doctor must achieve a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in order to practice in their field. The chances of there being a Doctor who was not educated in an institution is essentially zero, because of a governmental law put into practice. Another clear reason to refute this argument, is from the fact that all of us know at least one or more college educated doctor who is unqualified in their practice, to the point where they are ostracized by the greater community as being an imbecile. A subsequent argument to go on after is that a college education provides the environment in which a prospective student may learn how to achieve their goal in becoming a Doctor. The answer to refute this argument is a simple answer; that if permissible, a person may be able to become a doctor by applying for a low tier job at a local hospital, and work their way up through real life experience. If they are not bred to be a doctor, then the course of nature will dictate whether or not they are qualified to be promoted to higher levels in the field of their profession, all the while getting this education either for free, or by literally being paid to do so. In reality, a Doctor is recommended by a personal acquaintance, or they are given to you in a hospital setting. While a Doctor in a hospital is certified, generally the nurses and other aids come mostly from college institutions, and are therefore not hired professionally. This in turn leads to unqualified people taking action in an environment they do not belong, but since they're enrolled in education and have paid for the ability to be there, they're forcibly given to patients and have a higher chance of diagnosing them improperly, something that has happened to me personally.
Another problem with the education institution's corruption is that it essentially blanks out the ability to "climb the ladder" so to speak in any given work environment. A person who only has a GED or lower cannot compete to achieve a higher level of work because those jobs are given priority to the graduated college students. This is a clear indicator as to the disadvantage many have in a face of economic turmoil. That if one cannot afford the college degree, they are banned from ever achieving a desired employment, regardless of their skill or proficiency.
What is the real reason to attend a university then in a rational sense? The answer is simple, that it provides students the ability to connect with people and resources that can give them experience and education. This is quite literally the only reason a person would need to go to college for any reason whatsoever. It provides an environment to meet people and to utilize facilities one may not be able to afford on a conventional level. Now ask yourself this. Is the price you pay, as well as the time and effort put into the education really worth the people you meet, or the facilities you are given the privilege to use? In some instances it could be. If you were to go to Harvard for instance, you might meet hundreds of incredibly intelligent and proficient students and professors who could mentor you to achieve success. But most people don't go to Harvard. They go to a generic college where there isn't much achievement in terms of finding like minded people, nor is there many places to practice a form of their interest of studies (for example, rocket science, or a film course). To further this, professors of lower institutions are known to not be the best in terms of teaching a subject, much like the phrase "those who can't do, teach."
The progression (or regression in some cases) of student councils and groups, have created a high school like environment which alienates and segregates many of the student body from interacting with each other. The student body is separated, and as college garners more profit, they expand and construct new buildings, segregating the student body even more so. So while a person might think that the institution is giving an environment of "like-minded" people, it really only creates a hive-mind of collectivists where individuals are ostracized if they provide any different form of thought from the general narrative of the student body they belong to. Take for example, in the Montreal University of Concordia, where they have banned Israeli products from being apart of the institution. Not only is this an injustice performed on a variety of independent businesses, which are not in any way connected to the Israeli-Palestine conflict, but it also creates a hive-mind of social justice. That if anyone were to disagree with the movement, they are put under an argument of intimidation, and are therefore ostracized by the student body. They are not individual "like-minded" students no more, but a group of a silent majority, too afraid by the narrative imposed upon them to confess their ideas, much like the USSR during the early Stalin years, although this example might be a bit extreme, every evil begins somewhere.
The college institution is crumbling. There is only one way to achieve the concept of learning, and that is through self-education. For too long, we have been forced to learn, instead of developing the skills which enables us to learn for ourselves. We live in an environment of fear. Fear of failure, fear to express our ideas. There is a silent majority out there, and they have been reppressed for too long by intimidation of the opinions of others. It is time they rise and pursue their independent thought, and independent progress to success. The only reason college has become a requirement is because we have let it become so. It is not a natural course, but a course imposed upon us from birth as being the only way. College is there to provide us the tools for success, but it is up to us to utilize them and to also build our own tools if needed. If we are to truly learn, then it is time to stop forcing education, and instead open a book and read.
