How many of you are college educated?

[BlueCat#8]

This poll is a joke. The national average is around 35% who got a degree and this poll is 85% in KY. Ky has one of the worst educational system in the country usually ranking around 45th every year.

Lot's on here stretching the truth.

 

[ColonelCat]

The best paying position seems to be the NBA, and most are not fully educated, i.e. degrees. I think-iirc that Seth Curry now makes 52.5 mil per season. Lebron comes to mind, he has a tremendous income and only finished h.s. Education is out the window in this, it's called skill level. Rondo, Bledsoe, Ad, and many other ex-Cats didn't get degrees but have thrived with enough income to care for them the rest of their lives. If I had the skills and the health, that's the field I would have chosen. But o'well white men can't jump as it is said, and the tale of my tape exposes me, so I had to work 9-5. Maybe in heaven I can be 6'4 and hit jumpers. Pay isn't much, but the retirement is just out of this world.

 

[IL Wildcat]

Yeah, a survey like this is not going to be a very accurate depiction of the educational background of this board. Those who have completed a degree will be very likely to answer. Those who haven't been to college or a grad school are not likely to even answer.

When I was in high school back in the late 80s, if you had any kind of ambition to have a good job or career, college was THE thing. Any student who showed any promise academically were expected to go to college. Any who didn't show interest were considered foolish. Any who chose to go some kind of vocational school route were considered by "academics" to be not so bright. So, I went to college and even went to grad school as well. BA in Music and MA in Christian Ed

But all these years later, you know what I've thought many times? Those students who decided to become plumbers, carpenters, welders, electricians, technicians, and etc. were not so dumb as I was led to believe. My brother heads an engineering firm out of Memphis and they specialize in steel structures. You know what they can't find? Welders. They will pay reliable and skilled welders a mint to work for them if they will do the job well and be dependable.

So, all of that to say, having a degree is all well and good but how many people have degrees they don't even use and how many are in debt up to their eyeballs because that education cost them more than they would have ever dreamed? And how many aren't even working in their field or the field no longer exists or there is no longer any money in it or you can't find a job? Meanwhile, that plumber has more work than he can get done and has been making $75/100 an hour since he started with no debt.

 

[SemperFiCat]

My buddy once told me that if he had it to do all over again, he'd spent his entire HS years learning how to kick a FG or hit a golf ball, lol. Actually made sense to me.

 

[LowCountryCat]

So.... no then. 🤣

I’m not sure why you posted the smilie…are you laughing because you think I don’t have a degree? Are you a snob or something?

 

[WallMashKyBall]

MFA from NYU

 

[STL_Cat]

I love

Yeah, a survey like this is not going to be a very accurate depiction of the educational background of this board. Those who have completed a degree will be very likely to answer. Those who haven't been to college or a grad school are not likely to even answer.

When I was in high school back in the late 80s, if you had any kind of ambition to have a good job or career, college was THE thing. Any student who showed any promise academically were expected to go to college. Any who didn't show interest were considered foolish. Any who chose to go some kind of vocational school route were considered by "academics" to be not so bright. So, I went to college and even went to grad school as well. BA in Music and MA in Christian Ed

But all these years later, you know what I've thought many times? Those students who decided to become plumbers, carpenters, welders, electricians, technicians, and etc. were not so dumb as I was led to believe. My brother heads an engineering firm out of Memphis and they specialize in steel structures. You know what they can't find? Welders. They will pay reliable and skilled welders a mint to work for them if they will do the job well and be dependable.

So, all of that to say, having a degree is all well and good but how many people have degrees they don't even use and how many are in debt up to their eyeballs because that education cost them more than they would have ever dreamed? And how many aren't even working in their field or the field no longer exists or there is no longer any money in it or you can't find a job? Meanwhile, that plumber has more work than he can get done and has been making $75/100 an hour since he started with no debt.

Absolutely nothing wrong with trades like carpentry, HVAC, plumbing, etc …, for the right person. It’s a great living if you’re good at it and built for it.

Personally, I was built more to not do manual labor my whole life. It’s not for me.

 

[Lempface]

I’m not sure why you posted the smilie…are you laughing because you think I don’t have a degree? Are you a snob or something?

Your post reeked of paranoia, generally the educated are not paranoid, degree or not.

 

[UK-chulo]

Your post reeked of paranoia, generally the educated are not paranoid, degree or not.

Disagree. Bring up politics to this same group and you'll see plenty of paranoia.

 

[SemperFiCat]

Disagree. Bring up politics to this same group and you'll see plenty of paranoia.

Yeaaaahhh ....let's not bring politics into this.

 

[UK-chulo]

Yeaaaahhh ....let's not bring politics into this.

Just refuting that education is the antidote to paranoia as claimed.

 

[Whoppercat]

Yeah, a survey like this is not going to be a very accurate depiction of the educational background of this board. Those who have completed a degree will be very likely to answer. Those who haven't been to college or a grad school are not likely to even answer.

When I was in high school back in the late 80s, if you had any kind of ambition to have a good job or career, college was THE thing. Any student who showed any promise academically were expected to go to college. Any who didn't show interest were considered foolish. Any who chose to go some kind of vocational school route were considered by "academics" to be not so bright. So, I went to college and even went to grad school as well. BA in Music and MA in Christian Ed

But all these years later, you know what I've thought many times? Those students who decided to become plumbers, carpenters, welders, electricians, technicians, and etc. were not so dumb as I was led to believe. My brother heads an engineering firm out of Memphis and they specialize in steel structures. You know what they can't find? Welders. They will pay reliable and skilled welders a mint to work for them if they will do the job well and be dependable.

So, all of that to say, having a degree is all well and good but how many people have degrees they don't even use and how many are in debt up to their eyeballs because that education cost them more than they would have ever dreamed? And how many aren't even working in their field or the field no longer exists or there is no longer any money in it or you can't find a job? Meanwhile, that plumber has more work than he can get done and has been making $75/100 an hour since he started with no debt.

Per the Social Security Administration web site:

“Men with bachelor's degrees earn approximately $900,000 more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Women with bachelor's degrees earn $630,000 more. Men with graduate degrees earn $1.5 million more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Women with graduate degrees earn $1.1 million more.”

 

[STL_Cat]

Per the Social Security Administration web site:

“Men with bachelor's degrees earn approximately $900,000 more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Women with bachelor's degrees earn $630,000 more. Men with graduate degrees earn $1.5 million more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Women with graduate degrees earn $1.1 million more.”

Don't need much more definitive evidence that it's more than just a piece of paper.

 

[ManitouDan]

Associates degree from Morehead in 86 ( Rad Tech) Bachelors in Pharmacy from Samford U in Birmingham Al in 93 , close to a third degree at the place I did my Pre-Pharm at Shawnee St where I coached softball for 3 years . My education def paid off . But Pharmacy is near dead , the choices available 25 years are gone , and replaced by robotic educated idiot jobs

 

[Creed Bratton]

It’s not just our college system that’s messed up, it’s also k-12. Corporations use their money and influence to make lesson plans that teach kids all the wrong things. They teach us to be smart enough to work but dumb enough to break free. Ever wonder why finance classes aren’t mandatory but we need 3 Geography classes?

the people who made the system don’t want you breaking from the system

My wife and I were talking about a vacation to Niagara Falls and maybe into the New England states. I mentioned I would like to go to Plymouth Rock and my daughter, who is in the 7th grade, said what is that. I said you don't know what Plymouth Rock is? and she said no. I said have they never taught you about the Pilgrims landing there? and she said no. I am not sure what in the heck they teach kids anymore.

 

[ccukuk]

I’ve known several reputable licensed plumbers in my lifetime and they could work seven days a week if they wanted to. many of the older plumbers will cherry pick the jobs they want to do and refer jobs they don’t want to other plumbers. i can’t imagine they would go a day of $0 earnings for lack of work.

It’s not what I said, earning $0 in a day. It’s that a plumbing job that cost someone $300 an hour doesn’t equate to a plumber earning $300 an hour all day. They don’t get paid for travel time and those occur during work hours. A plumber might have 2-3 jobs in a day only doing 3 billable jobs for 3 true hours of work. An eight hour day billing for 3 jobs taking an hour each to a tune of $900. Divide that by eight or often 10 hours, then include costs of overhead and all your reputable plumbers are working 50-60 hours a week to barely make 6 figures if that.

And who wants to work 7 days a week? Plumbers probably do 5 1/2 -6 and work physically demanding jobs. My point remains that education in a real field of study is often much more lucrative and you won’t destroy your body working 7 days a week.

 

[STL_Cat]

My wife and I were talking about a vacation to Niagara Falls and maybe into the New England states. I mentioned I would like to go to Plymouth Rock and my daughter, who is in the 7th grade, said what is that. I said you don't know what Plymouth Rock is? and she said no. I said have they never taught you about the Pilgrims landing there? and she said no. I am not sure what in the heck they teach kids anymore.

We didn't land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us.

 

[ccukuk]

Every plumber I know is working 10-12 hours per day which probably equates to at least 8 hours of work.

Not billable hours or jobs that equate to $2400 a day. Even plumbers who are doing new construction aren’t earning $2400 a day-sorry.

 

[jwphelps]

With all this talk of one and done, bypassing school to go to G-League or other pro route, people talking about how these kids don’t appreciate a college education, how many of you went to and graduated from college? How many of you went straight to the pros? Just thought it would be interesting to see how the posters here compare to the players.

Not that it matters but I have two Masters degrees, but I will say this some of the smartest people I know are too dumb to come in out of the rain when it comes to common sense.

 

[drew_ukfan]

My wife and I were talking about a vacation to Niagara Falls and maybe into the New England states. I mentioned I would like to go to Plymouth Rock and my daughter, who is in the 7th grade, said what is that. I said you don't know what Plymouth Rock is? and she said no. I said have they never taught you about the Pilgrims landing there? and she said no. I am not sure what in the heck they teach kids anymore.

They teach college entrance test questions, that’s it. Most of it isn’t very useless. Kids come out without any knowledge of the world, it’s history, or finance

 

[KYCAT78]

Not billable hours or jobs that equate to $2400 a day. Even plumbers who are doing new construction aren’t earning $2400 a day-sorry.

Well he was at my house for 8 hours 3 weeks ago putting in 2 new faucets, a garden tub faucet, new shower trim, flushing a thankless water heater and removing old fixtures and it was $1877.00 dollars, so I must have got a discount that day. What is your argument that a college education is better than being a tradesman?

 

[WildcatNC]

I grew up pretty poor in eastern KY. Ended up moving in middle school due to Dad being laid off of the mines. I was smart but a knucklehead. Did well for myself by working, but I wish I had got to go to college. Still might go, only 42, but pandemic put a dent in finances.

 

[Creed Bratton]

I grew up pretty poor in eastern KY. Ended up moving in middle school due to Dad being laid off of the mines. I was smart but a knucklehead. Did well for myself by working, but I wish I had got to go to college. Still might go, only 42, but pandemic put a dent in finances.

My oldest daughter graduated from college last year and I was pleasantly surprised at how many older folks were getting their degree. I don't know the circumstances why folks in the 50's, 60's and even 70's were getting degrees but admire anyone willing to further their knowledge. We are never too old to stop learning from books or each other.

 

[preacherfan]

Fwiw, I don't think "college degree" means the same thing it once did. With the online and other shortcut routes available today, I'm not sure what to think when I'm flashed a "Southern New Hampshire U" resume today. I just nod, roll my eyes, and say "Oh, OK, whatever...."

I feel that way when someone says they graduated from UNC. My first question is: AFAM?

 

[OneBadCat]

I have a Phd......Post Hole Digger. Seriously, I went to work straight out of HS 34 years ago.

 

[Ron Mehico]

Yeah, a survey like this is not going to be a very accurate depiction of the educational background of this board. Those who have completed a degree will be very likely to answer. Those who haven't been to college or a grad school are not likely to even answer.

When I was in high school back in the late 80s, if you had any kind of ambition to have a good job or career, college was THE thing. Any student who showed any promise academically were expected to go to college. Any who didn't show interest were considered foolish. Any who chose to go some kind of vocational school route were considered by "academics" to be not so bright. So, I went to college and even went to grad school as well. BA in Music and MA in Christian Ed

But all these years later, you know what I've thought many times? Those students who decided to become plumbers, carpenters, welders, electricians, technicians, and etc. were not so dumb as I was led to believe. My brother heads an engineering firm out of Memphis and they specialize in steel structures. You know what they can't find? Welders. They will pay reliable and skilled welders a mint to work for them if they will do the job well and be dependable.

So, all of that to say, having a degree is all well and good but how many people have degrees they don't even use and how many are in debt up to their eyeballs because that education cost them more than they would have ever dreamed? And how many aren't even working in their field or the field no longer exists or there is no longer any money in it or you can't find a job? Meanwhile, that plumber has more work than he can get done and has been making $75/100 an hour since he started with no debt.

I truly don’t mean this the wrong way, but your degrees are a great testament to how going to college matters if you know what you want to do and get degrees that hold value. What in the world are you planning on doing with a bachelors degree in music? Playing an instrument? Telling people the differences between Bach and Beethoven? My brother in law has a bachelors degree in history. Ok? So his entire degree can be looked up on Wikipedia? I mean if you want to go to college for a career you need to choose a degree that actually leads to one. And not you personally, I just mean as a whole college is great if approached properly.

 

[STL_Cat]

I truly don’t mean this the wrong way, but your degrees are a great testament to how going to college matters if you know what you want to do and get degrees that hold value. What in the world are you planning on doing with a bachelors degree in music? Playing an instrument? Telling people the differences between Bach and Beethoven? My brother in law has a bachelors degree in history. Ok? So his entire degree can be looked up on Wikipedia? I mean if you want to go to college for a career you need to choose a degree that actually leads to one. And not you personally, I just mean as a whole college is great if approached properly.

Aaaaa - men. It seems like a lot of people who say "a college degree is just a piece of paper" have degrees in mostly useless fields of study. Which is fine, but was their choice.

 

[Gromcat]

This poll is a joke. The national average is around 35% who got a degree and this poll is 85% in KY. Ky has one of the worst educational system in the country usually ranking around 45th every year.

Lot's on here stretching the truth.

I always say I never realized how many people hold 3 degrees until I came to rafters.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Tradesmen like that don’t have steady lucrative jobs lined up all day, they just don’t. Professionals(true professionals like physicians, dentists, lawyers, pharmacist) do. People go to professionals usually(meaning people come to my office all day long for appointments) and that’s why they earn the money they do p. People look at what a plumber got paid in one to two hours of work in a day but they probably earn $0 several other hours a day. So they effectively average $30, $40. That’s certainly great but not in the ballpark of the highly educated.

Plus.. it's plumbing. There IS a reason manual labor is always in demand: people don't want to do it. Now, I don't think it should be looked down apon (lord knows the trades have saved my ass being a landlord).. but I do understand people who don't want to be on their feet all day, or outside, or in the case of plumbing, dealing with dank basements and poo.

Working in an office, the only hardships I have to deal with are bad posture from sitting, carpal tunnel, and women.

.. the women part might be a legit trade off..

 

[Gromcat]

I love

Absolutely nothing wrong with trades like carpentry, HVAC, plumbing, etc …, for the right person. It’s a great living if you’re good at it and built for it.

Personally, I was built more to not do manual labor my whole life. It’s not for me.

I mean, that’s the thing. I understand the rage today is to discredit the degree and shout for welders, but I don’t think many that do this understand how shitty welding all day can be.

I mean, yay, you’re an idiot for college but the guy knee deep in shit all day while playing connect a hose had the right idea? Okay.

The thing is if you aim to have accomplishments, be distinguished, and be a professional, college is the best first step. It’s not just about a dollar sign either. Money will come with success.

There is nothing inherently wrong about being a plumber or a welder. If you’re good at that sort of thing and can enjoy it, do it. But I know welders that make 13 an hour and hate their job. I’m friends with a plumber who’s quitting to start a lawn care business. I also know a guy who went to a tech school in Chicago and now barely makes ends meet working on boats for some place in Florida. 2 of those 3 have told me several
Times they wished they had gone to college and could wear khakis and a polo.

There’s a myth that seems to be perpetuated often than college is useless and votech is the way. It’s just not true. And anyway, In order to see the big money in those avenues you need to understand how to run a business, and they don’t teach that at the neighborhood votech. Some can manage that, most won’t. You can easily end up an apprentice for 15 years hating your life while working in heat all day.

Different strokes, different folks. But the wild obsession with claiming college useless is simply
not found by the studies. I also think college prepares you for learning how to navigate on your own which is the foundation for success. Seems to me the idea is perpetuated by people who either majored in something they shouldn’t have, or didn’t go.

 

[RunninRichie]

I mean, that’s the thing. I understand the rage today is to discredit the degree and shout for welders, but I don’t think many that do this understand how shitty welding all day can be.

I mean, yay, you’re an idiot for college but the guy knee deep in shit all day while playing connect a hose had the right idea? Okay.

The thing is if you aim to have accomplishments, be distinguished, and be a professional, college is the best first step. It’s not just about a dollar sign either. Money will come with success.

There is nothing inherently wrong about being a plumber or a welder. If you’re good at that sort of thing and can enjoy it, do it. But I know welders that make 13 an hour and hate their job. I’m friends with a plumber who’s quitting to start a lawn care business. I also know a guy who went to a tech school in Chicago and now barely makes ends meet working on boats for some place in Florida. 2 of those 3 have told me several
Times they wished they had gone to college and could wear khakis and a polo.

There’s a myth that seems to be perpetuated often than college is useless and votech is the way. It’s just not true. And anyway, In order to see the big money in those avenues you need to understand how to run a business, and they don’t teach that at the neighborhood votech. Some can manage that, most won’t. You can easily end up an apprentice for 15 years hating your life while working in heat all day.

Different strokes, different folks. But the wild obsession with claiming college useless is simply
not found by the studies. I also think college prepares you for learning how to navigate on your own which is the foundation for success. Seems to me the idea is perpetuated by people who either majored in something they shouldn’t have, or didn’t go.

It’s ok, try as hard as you can to justify spending 20k plus on college.

 

[Gromcat]

It’s ok, try as hard as you can to justify spending 20k plus on college.

Its easy to justify it, and I spent more than that over 15 years. I’m a head hunter bro, I’m not scared of it.

I’ll be sitting for my CTL soon, making around 80K working on my ass 4-8 hours per day. I also own rental properties / real estate. All of which college helped me prepare for.

What’s okay is the fact that I have accomplishments they’ll never have, money they’ll never have, easy work life they’ll never have.

I like the awards on my wall. You can finish before the day ends if you start counting now.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

It’s ok, try as hard as you can to justify spending 20k plus on college.

You know, not everyone has to pay for college in full. Plenty of us had scholarships, either partial or full.. Many had parents/grandparents who set aside money (although in this scenario, someone is still paying). But for many of us, a scholarship was earned through hard work.

And I *sometimes* think that's where you can draw a line between the trades and the college route. For many college kids, they took k-12 seriously, and for many of those in trades, they did not.

 

[STL_Cat]

It’s ok, try as hard as you can to justify spending 20k plus on college.

My high quality of life justifies it, not anything I say here on a message board.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

My wife and I were talking about a vacation to Niagara Falls and maybe into the New England states. I mentioned I would like to go to Plymouth Rock and my daughter, who is in the 7th grade, said what is that. I said you don't know what Plymouth Rock is? and she said no. I said have they never taught you about the Pilgrims landing there? and she said no. I am not sure what in the heck they teach kids anymore.

Unpopular opinion.. but **** learning history. Or at the very least, let's start condensing it. I know it's important to know where we came from, but History classes just aren't doing much to prepare kids for the real world. I mean, it's called "history" for a reason. Slash a history class or two and replace it with Personal Finance and Basic Coding.

I have a cousin who teaches history and I'm also tired of her whining. You teach the same damn French and Indian war, every year! For 30 years! Nothing has changed! You can literally dole out the same quizzes, tests, and paper requirements every school year.. wash rinse repeat.

 

[Gromcat]

Unpopular opinion.. but **** learning history. Or at the very least, let's start condensing it. I know it's important to know where we came from, but History classes just aren't doing much to prepare kids for the real world. I mean, it's called "history" for a reason. Slash a history class or two and replace it with Personal Finance and Basic Coding.

I have a cousin who teaches history and I'm also tired of her whining. You teach the same damn French and Indian war, every year! For 30 years! Nothing has changed! You can literally dole out the same quizzes, tests, and paper requirements every school year.. wash rinse repeat.

I don’t think your opinion is wrong because of the methods used to teach history. Simply put, we don’t teach it correctly. The educational system is set up K-12 to dumb you down. For example, they’re not going to teach much of anything that doesn’t correlate to meaningless time periods, or political natured events. They’ll teach about the consequences of war, but not the consequences as a result of the Munich agreement (appeasement). Why? Because current political heads want appeasement today. We’re doing it right now.

They don’t want to teach the truth about the civil war or the south, they just want you to know slavery is bad as a means to create and facilitate pandering. Okay…

What I liked about college was the real conversations that are had. It does bring a sort of enlightenment to the table high school doesn’t.

A great example is Nazi Germany (of course). In high school we simply weren’t taught the ins and outs. My history teacher was simply there to tell you Hitler was a right wing fascist. And since my first degree obtained was in the histories, I can tell you that’s simply false. Hitler was not right wing, he wasn’t left wing, he was a racial purists. He didn’t hold an ideology in the sense that we understand it. He simply used a tool.

High schools are terrible because they’re government run. The things my kids learn in private school compared is mind blowing.

 

[Blueaz]

My buddy once told me that if he had it to do all over again, he'd spent his entire HS years learning how to kick a FG or hit a golf ball, lol. Actually made sense to me.

long snapper also

 

[Lempface]

Don't need much more definitive evidence that it's more than just a piece of paper.

You certainly do. Need to see the time frame those statistics are from. I’d be shocked if those were recent. I don’t have a degree and I don’t think it’s just a piece of paper but I’m not oblivious to the current state of the job market either.

 

[STL_Cat]

You certainly do. Need to see the time frame those statistics are from. I’d be shocked if those were recent. I don’t have a degree and I don’t think it’s just a piece of paper but I’m not oblivious to the current state of the job market either.

I replied under the assumption that the statistics were accurate. If they're not, I'd love to see the refuting evidence.

All I can say for sure is a college education was 100% right for me. I have a career I love that affords my family a high quality of life. And it's a career I would not have without my degree.

 

[TheOtherGreatOne]

I studied Corrections at the University of Louisville, and Celtic-Scottish History, at the University of Glasgow.