

Fewer people go to college than you think - imcqueen
http://iainmcqueen.posterous.com/a-lot-fewer-people-go-to-college-than-you-thi

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curt
Also there is a big difference between GOING to college and GRADUATING from
college. A ton of people drop out during their first or second years.

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imcqueen
Agreed. I glossed over writing the title and it's misleading. I meant to refer
to the number of people who obtain bachelor's degrees.

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panabee
With certain "provable" professions, like programming, where it is possible to
prove talent/fit directly -- as opposed to by proxy with a college degree or
past experience -- do you see college becoming less relevant as online
education and online hiring improves?

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bdunbar
I have been told - first by the CEO of a retail chain [1] - that 'a college
degree' isn't so much for talent, or fit, as a proof that the applicant can
stick with something for a few years.

He proved his point by hiring me [2] for a job. At that point in my life I had
no degree, but I had just spent eight years in the Marines, and had done
everything from programming computers (badly) to micro PC repair and LAN
administration.

[1] Who was, improbably, interviewing me for a job. Long story.

[2] Sort of. He called me back said he _would_ have hired me but the company
had just gone into Chapter 11.

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pitdesi
People commonly misinterpret this stat to mean that only 27.5% of current high
school students will go to college. That's completely wrong - it's just that
few of the old people in this country went to college.

These days, about 68% of high school graduates end up in college (different
stat than the percent that graduate)... So the "misconception" that most
people go to college after high school is actually completely correct. Source:
<http://www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm>

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forkandwait
No, the original link is correct -- about 27% of people of 25 have a college
degree of BA or higher. If you extend the age (say to 30 or 35), you don't see
much difference.

"go to [some] college" (68%) and "graduate from college by age 25" (27%) are
COMPLETELY different statistics. Lots and lots of working class people
graduate with decent grades, go to the local state college, don't fit in (or
party too much), and drop out.

And going to 3.5 years of college and dropping out versus a BA makes a HUGE
difference in career outcomes later -- it is a discontinuous jump.

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dangrossman
What's the source for your number?

The original article is about all people "25 and older", not "25".

The census data he's quoting is "Bachelor's degree or higher, pct of persons
age 25+, 2005-2009":

<http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html>

