I graduated with an information systems degree about a decade ago, and no employer has ever given me any amount of money for that degree. I have never gotten a bonus or higher pay because of it. Now, I’m seeing so many videos on TikTok and reels lately of students who graduated with a computer science degree costing them upwards of 90K, And they are all packed any huge room with like 20 employers who are hiring for like 300 jobs but there’s like thousands of them…
So basically if you want a digital piece of paper that says you’re “educated”, you can pay $40000 > $350,000. But you’ll never get any amount of money for it from employers, it won’t help you find a job. It’s a myth
Question from a milleniold abroad: How do you set yourself up for an upper middle class+ job in the US today?
Where I live, the trades are a good alternative if you want to make money earlier in life, but there’s a pretty hard upper limit.
With a university education, you earn nothing for a lot longer, then it takes you at least 10-15 years to catch up, and many never do, but if you want the potential to break out of lower middle class, don’t come from generational wealth, and don’t strike it lucky with founding your own company, there’s no other way.
If you want to go the college route, you need to be strategic.
Choose a degree program that has a high return on investment. A lot of universities report salaries. Also ask if there are internship programs and if they are paid; paid internship programs generally mark a higher salary field.
Network in college. Get to know your classmates. Get to know alumni. Build study groups with people who will make you a better student.
Practice leadership. Participate in clubs and student organizations. Learn how to lead groups by leading groups. Go to different events/parties.
That all sounds helpful, useful, and depressing as fuck.
I’m glad I don’t have to deal with all that shit anymore.
It is what it is; just getting a college degree by itself isn’t as useful as it was before. Also, some degrees are better than others.