What do people without a college education do?

Originally Posted by HomerJ

Click to expand...

On average (mean), college dropouts are richer than college graduates. So I suppose they are busy owning the world you live in.

I thought people here were insulated after reading the Bush Tax Cut thread and whining about 150k income, then I read this thread.

Got a source for that one?

You guys need to get out more. While most of my friends are college grads, I have had friends who don't. Actually, neither of my parents graduated college (although both attended)

I will kill my kids is they end up as insulated as the op- don't you guys even get to a real gym? Or a dojo? Or someplace that regular blue collar people hang out?

My uncle has a saying that he got from an MD somewhere... The A students go in to research, the B students work for the A students, and the A students work for the C students. He's proud to have been a C student.

Originally Posted by globetrotter

Click to expand...

You guys need to get out more. While most of my friends are college grads, I have had friends who don't. Actually, neither of my parents graduated college (although both attended) I will kill my kids is they end up as insulated as the op- don't you guys even get to a real gym? Or a dojo? Or someplace that regular blue collar people hang out?
+1 I was the first of my family to make it to higher education yet both my parents now, through very hard work and the requisite luck, are in a situation to be very comfortable, both what would be termed in the USA "white collar jobs". Still work like dogs but unlike when I was very young, can afford to eat, heh.

Neither of my parents has a college degree. They are entrepreneurs.

Some of the best programmers and engineering managers I've ever worked with had History and English degrees.

Originally Posted by globetrotter

Click to expand...

I will kill my kids is they end up as insulated as the op- don't you guys even get to a real gym? Or a dojo? Or someplace that regular blue collar people hang out?

You would kill your children? Wow...

Have you ever seen the inside of a gym? If I am not mistaken you are quite a bloated fellow.

And no, I don't go to gyms or where blue collar people hang out, hence the question.

Bill Gates was a college dropout I believe and look at his wallet!

Originally Posted by LabelKing

Click to expand...

They amass sizeable My Little Pony collections. Can't you just imagine a working class trailer queen owning these abortions?

lol.

Originally Posted by Huntsman

Click to expand...

Holy Ivory Towers.

Journeyman has it right. All the jobs formerly referred to as 'trades' don't require a college degree, though some require post-secondary technical training. In addition to the standard plumbers, carpenters and other construction jobs (which is a truly huge set), you have technicians of every stripe (the guys who work for the engineers doing prototyping, another huge group), maintenance techs for all the equipment we have out there, lots of people in sales (the hustlers, typically), many entertainers, and on and on and on. This is all in addition to clerks, tellers, cashiers, auto mechanics, etc.

I know they say you computer geeks live sheltered lives in the Valley but geez.

I personally know welders (ASME certified pipe welders, to be precise) who pull down nearly 200k USD/yr, and 100k is not uncommon for an experienced welder.

~ Huntsman

Right. I think I'm just a little surprised at the multitude of these jobs.

Originally Posted by tiecollector

Click to expand...

Yeah it is pretty weird because college is the new high school because some pretty stupid people are handed out degrees. I'm guessing the rest go on welfare or found some way to make money right out of high school and said screw college. I have met a couple people who lie about their degree in Silicon Valley. Also, it seems most educated people migrate towards the coasts.

Most people start college (around the 70-80% range I believe) but few finish college. So I wouldn't say college is the new high school just yet.

Originally Posted by drake

Click to expand...

Most people start college (around the 70-80% range I believe) but few finish college. So I wouldn't say college is the new high school just yet.
To my knowledge, neither did I. I do, however, believe it is becoming thus. Further, it is likely that when highschool was the new highschool, the situation wherein many started but didn't finish, occured also.

Originally Posted by HomerJ

Click to expand...

On average (mean), college dropouts are richer than college graduates. So I suppose they are busy owning the world you live in.
Not true. "Median earnings last year ranged from $30,800 for high-school graduates to $49,900 for Americans with bachelor's degrees and $59,500 for those holding a master's degree. Doctors, dentists, attorneys and others with professional degrees fared even better, earning $95,700 on average. In today's dollars, college graduates can expect to earn about $2.5 million over their lifetimes, compared with $1.4 million for people with high school diplomas only, according to the study, which drew on Census Bureau data. People with advanced degrees can expect to earn even more." Many more studies are available that all come to the same conclusion dl

Originally Posted by HomerJ

Click to expand...

On average (mean), college dropouts are richer than college graduates. So I suppose they are busy owning the world you live in.

Originally Posted by Brian278

Click to expand...

Got a source for that one?

I was half kidding and did say mean rather than median. I doubt it's true but here are some interesting facts..

In the 2007 Forbes 400, 8 out of the 11 wealthiest Americans did not acquire their wealth through a college degree. They either dropped out like Gates or never went like Kerkorian. Some have college degrees but inherited the money from someone who didn't have a college degree.

If you look at the top 25 of that list, those without a college degree are worth more as a group than the graduates. Again, if your high school dropout grandfather left you 10,000,000,000 and you graduated college, congratulations but that fortune was made by a dropout.

Athletes make chump change in comparison to the Forbes list but they are well known. Of the top 10 earning athletes in 2007, only Mickelson has a college degree. I'd say it's the same pattern for just about celebrity who shapes our pop culture which is more and more THE culture.

Historically, it's no contest. None of them had a college degree.

Rockefeller tops the all time list at 192B (2007 $) followed in order
Vanderbilt 143
Astor 116
Girard 83
Carnegie 75
Stewart 70
Weyerhaeuser 68
Gould 67
and on and on.

So this raises the question, are we actually damaging the earning potential of women and minorities by encouraging them to graduate from college?

Originally Posted by Huntsman

Click to expand...

To my knowledge, neither did I. I do, however, believe it is becoming thus. Further, it is likely that when highschool was the new highschool, the situation wherein many started but didn't finish, occured also.

That reply was directed at tiecollector. I think I should post my replies below the quote...

You do have a point though.

Originally Posted by dl20

Click to expand...

Not true.

"Median earnings last year ranged from $30,800 for high-school graduates to $49,900 for Americans with bachelor's degrees and $59,500 for those holding a master's degree.

Doctors, dentists, attorneys and others with professional degrees fared even better, earning $95,700 on average.

In today's dollars, college graduates can expect to earn about $2.5 million over their lifetimes, compared with $1.4 million for people with high school diplomas only, according to the study, which drew on Census Bureau data. People with advanced degrees can expect to earn even more."

Many more studies are available that all come to the same conclusion

dl