<p>+1 for 7Dad’s comments. College is now seen as a direct path to a job in, theoretically, one’s majors. Thus the attrition in, and subsequent dropping of, Classics and Philosophy programs (to name just two) from many colleges’ curricula.</p>
<p>Spirit also makes good points, and I have seen mirrors of the exact two scenarios described, in my own personal circles. While the lack of a degree may be less meaningful to a driven, capable person whose path lies in a particular artistic, technological or entrepreneurial direction, such a person is not the norm. The handful of “success stories” highlighted in the story are outliers in the extreme. Spirit’s stepsister’s outcome seems the more likely for even hardworking kids, unless they have a particular goal and the drive to pursue it at any cost or amount of personal discomfort. Although you’d think the companies who offered her jobs BEFORE finding out if she had a college degree, would have done a better job vetting, if a degree was an absolute requirement.
But that would not, of course, have changed the eventual outcome of no job offer after all…</p>