1. There are program out there that offer degrees but little or no education. Such programs should be avoided. At some point, when employers realize that students with degrees from program X don’t know anything, and they will soon enough understand that this program provides little or no education, and they should hire students from elsewhere. Spending $10,000 and 2 years, for example, is not actually a bargain, but a waste of thousands of dollars and years of one’s life.
2. There are many college programs that offer excellent education to its students. Aside from the Columbias, Harvards, Princetons, etc (and there are dozens of universities in this league), there are also many excellent smaller programs such as Queens and Brooklyn college. When a student has a degree from a school like this in chemistry, for example, it means that this student has spent hundreds and hundreds of hours studying many very technical aspects of a particular subject, and has, ideally, a solid understanding of this subject. If you are an employer than needs a chemist, a degree such as this is highly valuable.
3. There are many jobs for which no particular education is necessary. A charismatic, motivated individual can sell TV’s or fix A/C units without understanding calculus or microeconomics, and without having ever read Shakespeare or Robert Frost.
4. Of course there is more knowledge out there than any one person can ever learn, and certainly not in four years. Good programs try to teach students basics of some of the most important topics, like philosophy and history, mathematics, science, social sciences, etc. It is a great luxury today that so many people in this country can afford to spend four years of their lives, right around when they have reached adulthood, and study many of these very deep and beautiful topics. But not all of us are as wealthy and fortunate. Many of us need to just get training to do a job, and get started working…