In light of the current economy…many, perhaps most jobs in the US do not require a college diploma. That being said, try to get a decent job without one…..it’s a supply and demand thing. There’s an over supply of college grads….so why not hire them over those without a college degree…but again, you don’t HAVE to pay them a high salary either, right? Again, over supply of job seekers and a short supply of REALLY good jobs with full time benefits, etc.

OK, take another approach…successful can be a value-loaded judgment word. What are the criteria for success? Material well-being hits the mark for many. Others prefer to gauge success using less tangible measures….satisfaction, enlightenment and similar abstractions.

If it were possible to clearly and definitively measure the amount of knowledge and skills of a typical college graduate…and then put that up against what knowledge and skills are required for the typical job…I think you might find a consensus that most college graduates are very much under employed…not fully utilizing their education and skills…and certainly feel under paid for it, too.

On past jobs, I would have to say the most successful workers were those who successful solved problems in a timely and cost effective way…on time and on or under budget. They were able to do this because of their insightful application of whatever knowledge and skills they had (from formal education and practical “school of hard knocks” informal education) and many times by combining knowledge and skills with their co-workers facilitated by clear, concise, accurate interpersonal communications, effective time management and coordination. Careful observation, record keeping, logical reasoning, analytical and critical thinking, and understanding all come into play…any and all of these can be learned both in school and in the real world. The point is they got the knowledge and skills through formal and informal education….a combination….not an either or.

OK hope this helps. Good luck to you.

I seem to remember a study where they predicted that students will have to get master’s degrees to attain jobs they really want. perhaps, you could focus more on the idea that, since virtually everyone has access to college nowadays, it isn’t the ticket to the dream life, as it once was, and now, one needs not only college, but graduate degrees to attain what a college degree would have been enough for years ago.

Einstein, Bill Gates etc.