Is this schooling trip necessary for all?

By Casey Lartigue

If I told you that I had discovered a fun way for you to put yourself into debt, that you would be unemployed for months or years after going through my four-year program, and if you got hired that you would be working at menial jobs for a while?

Probably not, and that's why universities rarely present that side of the story.

Final exams are wrapping up at universities around the world. After four years or more of a sprint or stumble to the finish line known as "graduation," many students taking exams for the final time may be asking: "Has this trip really been necessary?"

I'm not the first to note this problem. In the 2000 book "Success Without College," author Linda Lee asserted that there are some people who belong in college: "The high-achieving student who is interested in learning for learning's sake, those who intend to become schoolteachers and those young people who seem certain to go on to advanced degrees in law, medicine, architecture and the like."

Lee then notes who goes to college: "Everyone." She points at the learning disabled, the fairly dumb, near illiterates who can't write or do math, "slackers who see college as an opportunity to major in Beers of the World," athletes and "the just plain average student with not much interest in anything."

Some point out statistics about college graduates earning more than high school graduates or college dropouts. Lee cites the 1975 book "The Overeducated America" in which Caroline Bird argued: "[T]here is no real evidence that the higher income of college graduates is due to college at all."

Before that, researcher Christopher Jencks had concluded in the 1972 report "Inequality: A Reassessment of the Effect of Family and Schooling in America" that people from high-status families tended to earn more than people from law-status families, even when they had the same amount of "education."

Does college lead to better jobs? In the 1999 book "What's College For?: The Struggle to Define American Higher Education" answered: "Not necessarily. The more people go to college, the less a college degree is worth."

There are even some who question the value of an Ivy League degree, the Holy Grail sought by parents around the world. In a 1999 Newsweek commentary "The Worthless Ivy League," economist Robert J. Samuelson wrote: "Going to Harvard or Duke won't automatically produce a better job and higher pay. Graduates of these schools generally do well. But they do well because they are talented?"

John T. Murphy's 2001 book "Success Without A College Degree" argues that college cannot guarantee things such as success, direction, ambition and goals, or uncover strengths and talents.

Numerous articles have pointed out that at least 15 percent of the Forbes 400 (a yearly listing of the most successful business leaders) and that about 15 of the wealthiest people in the U.S. dropped out of or never attended college (Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, for example).

Most of the books and writing I've cited above were released at least 15 years ago, to demonstrate that over the decades there have been lonely voices pushing back against the demand for college.

In recent years, researchers and writers have cited people's self-confidence, resiliency and "grit" as factors leading to success. In the 2005 book, "The Resiliency Advantage: Master Change, Thrive Under Pressure, and Bounce Back from Setbacks," Al Siebert describes different levels of resiliency that people achieve.

He notes that people without college degrees can do just fine when they have resiliency. Other writers and bloggers say that people can make it if they learn how to network, engage in lifelong learning, are fearless and can be energy centers who are self-starters.

In 2016, Angela Duckworth published "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance," finding that grit was a common factor in high-achievers that she studied, at least as important as IQ or socioeconomic status.

About 15 years before that, "strivers" began to be recognized as people who might not have the credentials or background sought by society or employers, but who nevertheless found ways to get things done. And before that, there was a recognition of "street smarts" versus "book smarts," and maybe even the entire nature versus nurture debate.

This column isn't arguing that college should be avoided. Even the authors who have criticized the way young people are pressured to go to college despite lack of interest will note that there are many benefits of higher education.

As I quoted Linda Lee above, there are many people who belong in college and use it to prepare themselves for their chosen paths in life. For many people, however, it isn't clear that the trip to get themselves into debt without clear marketable skills has been worth it.

Casey Lartigue (CJL@alumni.harvard.edu) received a bachelor's degree from the Harvard University Extension School and a master's degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.