Subj : Re: New to this
To   : Nightfox
From : Gamgee
Date : Sat Apr 19 2025 08:05 pm

-=> Nightfox wrote to Gamgee <=-

 Ni>   Re: Re: New to this
 Ni>   By: Gamgee to boraxman on Fri Apr 18 2025 10:21 pm

 Ga> I have a little trouble believing that, to be honest.  One thing we
 Ga> haven't talked about is education levels...  I think in today's world, a
 Ga> college degree is pretty much required for success, which is perhaps
 Ga> different than for previous generations.  Even an advanced degree may be
 Ga> needed.  I can assure you from personal experience and observations that
 Ga> those degrees make a HUGE difference in earning potential.  <SHRUG>

 Ni> There's a problem there too, in that tuition costs have generally risen
 Ni> quite high, and education debt is a problem for a lot of people.

No argument with any of that.  Very true.

However... there are ways to avoid much of that, sometimes.  Won't work 
for everyone, but for some.  Real-world example:  We paid for my 
daughter's bachelor degree (Chemistry), with some help from the state 
(FL) on discounts on tuition for taking advanced classes in high school, 
and doing well.  She did so well in those 4 years that she got a 
full-ride scholarship (including living expenses) to a major college in 
Texas to get both Masters and PhD degrees in Chemistry.  Zero cost to us 
or her.  Then she got hired by a major chemical company, who after a 
couple of years paid for her to attend another major college and get a 
Masters in Business Administration.  So now she's an 
accomplished/published scientist with business knowledge as well, and 
zero student debt.  The kind of things that CEO's are made out of (maybe
one day).

Now, it would be easy to say that she was "fortunate" to get all that, 
but in reality it was all earned by HARD work and exceptional dedication 
to reaching goals.  She got no special treatment, she just put in the 
effort needed to succeed.  Granted not everyone can/will do that.

 Ni> We have high costs of housing (and everything else, with inflation),
 Ni> but the very high costs of college tuition can be a barrier that
 Ni> prevents people from getting an education that could enable a high
 Ni> income for people.  Lately I've been thinking more and more that
 Ni> college shouldn't cost so much; maybe it shouldn't be free,
 Ni> necessarily, but not so expensive as to be a burden on people who want
 Ni> higher education.  Also, I think if more poeple are able to afford to
 Ni> go to college, there would probably be an economic benefit to having
 Ni> more people with degrees to contribute to production of a variety of
 Ni> products and services that benefit people (and which people generally
 Ni> buy).

Yes, I realize that college costs are out of reach for some.  I agree 
that it should cost less, but not be free, either.

A counter-point to all this talk about college is that the world needs 
many people doing jobs that may not require that degree, but still 
require skills and training.  The "trades" as some people call them.  
Carpenters, plumbers, welders, mechanics, etc.  Very valuable people to 
a society and a way for those who can't go to college to still be 
successful people.  Many of those jobs pay better than college-degree 
jobs in reality.

So, the system has a way of kind of self-regulating in order to provide 
a balanced set of workers.  Seems to be pretty much OK in the overall 
scheme of things, to me.



.... A house is a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff.
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