Why do people want to pay $100,000 for a degree?

Go to a community college for 2 years and then transfer. It will save you a bundle of cash, and your degree will be from the college that you graduate from. No one has to know,

Good post. There are a lot of ignorant assumptions being made in this thread. I was an English major that went to private school at 45,000 dollars per year. 200,000+ dollars for the 4 year degree. As HRE pointed out, it wasn't about knowledge or skills, it was because I wanted to go to the f**king school. It was a wonderful experience that I don't regret. And no, I don't have any debt. I come from a family of Ivy League PhDs that are very wealthy. But that's beside the point. Assuming people choose schools for knowledge, money, or skills is limiting your own perspective. You don't know WHY people do what they do.

There were a couple times in my life when I drove a cab to support myself and once when I delivered pizza. At no time while I was doing those things did I think getting a college degree had been futile. I couldn't quite pull off the $45k a year schools but had a great time at a state university where I learned quite a lot and really refined my thinking about life what with being exposed to various people and ideas. We'll plunk out loads more to pay for our kids' college educations than I did for mine and if I knew they were going to work in running shops for the rest of their lives I would still pay what it costs to send them as long as they want to be there. And there shouldn't be an apostrophe in "other's" in my previous post.

HRE wrote:

Do I agree with you that a person should be able to pass some free or very cheap tests proving they've acquired knowledge or a set of skills? Yes. But we don't have that option and even in situations where passing a test is required to allow someone to do a kind of work, e.g., law or medicine, you generally are not allowed to sit for those tests without a degree.

And OP's reply to you confirms that the "why" in the thread title is used rhetorically, meaning more "why is the system like this" than "why do people go along with it." OP bemoaned the status quo and you responded that it's the status quo.

Bar exams don't require degrees in all states, there are some that accept apprenticeships.

I agree that it is overpriced and much of this has to do with the over-availability of student loans without adequate checks (transcripts, degree outlook, etc.) prior to taking them out. Because these loans are guaranteed, the schools are free to raise there tuition.

With that said, I think it is still worth it to attend state schools and live on campus for at least the second 2 years after spending the first 2 at a community college. There is so much maturing to do by not living at home with mom and dad and having 2 years to figure out academic interests prior would probably make this the best possible tradeoff.

Evidently you're much better than I am at understanding what people mean to say even when they didn't say it. I did not take "why" in his question to be rhetorical. It's like asking why driver's spend money every few years renewing a driver's license when doing so has nothing at all to do with their ability to drive. It's the status quo and if you don't do it and are caught it creates trouble. If I wanted to know, as you say the OP does, why the system is like this I'd be inclined to ask that question and not another question that admits a completely different sort of answer.

Having a degree does not correlate to being a good judge of character...

...which is of utmost importance in the bidness world...

...which would explain all the academic types...

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/11/26/Gallup-Obama-Approval-Plunges-with-Working-Class-Whites-to-27-Percent

HRE wrote:

Evidently you're much better than I am at understanding what people mean to say even when they didn't say it.

Unfortunately I have no English degree to prove it.

Bad Wigins wrote:

You seem proud of that, as if having to pay for your own apprenticeship were an intelligent way to train a workforce. It would not happen at all if it weren't for the blank check provided to students by the federal student aid system, which allows industries to refuse to train their own employees and let the taxpayers pay instead. This cartoonishly "pro-business" environment contributed to the collapse of the US economy.

That this apprenticeship is often just window-dressing, a $100,000 accreditation process rather than necessary training or education, only makes it more ridiculous. What the hell is the point of that? If you have the skills already, just pass a couple of tests and you should be hired.

Exactly.

Most businesses don't even care about one's college education. They pretend to care because in this country it's good PR to revere education and say things like "We want to hire people who have become well-rounded and can think critically" or whatever. Businesses want worker drones who they don't have to spend money training. It's that simple.

Send everyone to college, on their own dime, some will emerge with a base level of employable skills and internship experience (possibly unpaid) and then companies have their pick of the litter, is how it works. And there is plenty of crap work for all the college grads who weren't top-tier.

[quote]cballer wrote:

I agree that it is overpriced and much of this has to do with the over-availability of student loans without adequate checks (transcripts, degree outlook, etc.) prior to taking them out. Because these loans are guaranteed, the schools are free to raise there tuition.

NO NO NO, completely wrong the overpricing of college tuition has nothing to do with over-availability of student loans you tea party moron. By the way the loans are vetted closer than you think.

Tuition is and I agree it is overpriced because institutions are following a corporate business model and in some cases the school prez is a CEO who has no idea how to run an educational institution. It has now become almost universal most of these university presidents are overpaid THAT in part increases tuition etc. Think University of Chicago the "package" the president received borders on the obscene.

Schools are free to raise their tuition because they can, not because of guaranteed student loans. In part it is what the market will bear as well.

Either way the university/college system has failed in it's primary mandate of educating it's residents in favor of revenue generation at all costs to others with no guarantee of return ie jobs.