Does everyone need a college degree? | The Tylt

Peter Thiel argues higher education leads to groupthink. Success comes from being comfortable as a contrarian thinker, and being able to make those dream come true. No university can teach that.

"Today, everybody believes that we need to go to college, and people will pay-- whatever it takes." And that's way too much these days says Thiel, when people without a degree can make as much as those with an advanced one. "There are all sorts of vocational careers that pay extremely well today, so the average plumber makes as much as the average doctor," Thiel tells Safer. 

For the average person, college remains a good deal. Very few people will be the next Bill Gates, but anyone can earn a higher salary thanks to the degree they earned. The truth is there are fewer and fewer opportunities for a job that pays well and does not require a degree. 

Does this mean that I must have a degree to succeed or that a degree guarantees me a high paying job? The answer to both is “of course not”. In my own case, I did not have a degree of any kind until 20 years after graduating from high school. Yet, I moved from enlisted to officer status during that time, commanded two ships and completed a military career.
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As for guarantees – there are none, with the possible exceptions of death and taxes. However, you can definitely shift the odds in your favor by attaining a degree. In the process, you may also learn that education isn’t just about earning a living. Through education we enrich our culture, create greater societal understanding and unity, become more knowledgeable citizens and add to our quality of life and, a democracy doesn’t work well without it.