From Behind: “People can do great things without going to college.”
That’s absolutely correct. And as Old Fort pointed out, “What is the percentage?”
I’ve been working for businesses large and small for 17 years, and can tell you that that percentage is low. There is the extremely rare case of Bill Gates that is commonly brought up, but I wish those people who use him as an example would mention the other 10,000 cases of those who didn’t get to college and found themselves significantly held back because of that. It’s kind of like those stories you read about the lottery winners that neglect to mention the other 100,000 people who spent half their paycheck on scratch tickets and went bankrupt.
To be successful without going to college, you usually either have to start your own business, or work your way up within one.
Starting your own business is extremely hard. Most fail. Some make a living at theirs. Many make only a meager living (you wouldn’t believe how many people own independent stores and make the minimum wage or less when all their hours are factored in). A rare few become successful to the point where the owner makes more than he or she could by working for someone else.
Those who work their way up through a company find they often reach a point where they are blocked within that company because they don’t have a college degree. They also have serious problems if they want to change companies. Even at 45 years old, a new company is far less likely to hire someone without a degree, despite an impressive resume.
My experience with people without degrees working in jobs that normally require a degree has not been great. I’ve found that these people typically are working for companies that aren’t that great, and, in general, that these people aren’t as good as the people with degrees. They aren’t as glib, can’t write as well, and aren’t as good at math. They also don’t have the other skills that the college-educated person with what seems like the same job would have. They also are making less money, not surprisingly. There are exceptions, but they are rarer than you think.
By the way, I do know a few people who have earned millions without a degree. I know countless people who have earned millions, by the way, and the non-degreed would be far less than 1% of those. The only ones I know who have become filthy rich – rich enough to buy a baseball team, for example, or to own a string of companies and have a home on the ocean, in the mountains and one on an island – had college degrees.
After 17 years of being in my current field (see my post above), I’ve noticed one thing. The line between being able to be far more likely to be marketable and to able to control your destiny is crossed when you get a bachelor’s degree.