- "I have all kinds of credits all over God's green earth, but I'm using this to finish it all off," said the 41-year-old computer consultant, who has an associate degree in information technology but never finished his bachelor's in psychology.
I went to a very large state school and took a reasonably challenging program in mathematics and accounting. One of the few reasons that I managed to survive and finish both degrees was that I skipped most of the general business classes and showed up and took the test. It was easier for met to learn on my own rather than spend the time in class. On the other hand, I found the major courses in math very challenging and would routinely attend all of those lectures. So I suppose I ended up with a hybrid model, which was good for me. Of course there's the old yarn about if you want an education, go to the library; if you want a degree, go to college.
The bachelor's degree has now become the high school diploma. I felt my 6 years at University to get a bachelor's degree was an easy test to see if I could read something, comprehend it, then pass an exam or write an essay based on the random material. $30,000 later in government loans, I yet to see the payoff and am in an industry where experience is more competitive than education.
I can understand that. I dropped out of college my junior year, and decided that experience in the workforce would be enough. For a long time, it was. Then I got to a ceiling where I couldn't go any further without a college degree. I went back at night and eventually got my bachelors in business management. Of course, I'm talking about corporate America and it's probably much different than smaller businesses et cetera. However, after receiving my bachelors I more than doubled my annual income. It made an enormous difference in my life. All that said, I learned more from my practical experience than I ever did from my bachelors. For me, college was more about learning independence, how to manage my money, and how to create long-lasting friendships. My eventual degree was more or less a way to check a box on an application.
It seems that most industries are more reliant on experience than education nowadays. I've encountered a lot of entry level positions that require 2+ years of experience just to be considered. It's kind of a paradox really, you need experience to get a job but you can't get experience without a job.
In my experience, "2+ years of experience" is not a requirement. I have gotten entry-level jobs in the past that asked for similar qualifications, but they accepted my (paid) internship rotations in its stead. Most of the difficult part of applying for jobs is just marketing yourself correctly.
Laboratory, clinical, and practical work should still be required. Aside from that, I like this idea. If you're capable of learning all the material on your own and have a firm understanding of it, you should be able to take an accreditation approved tests to prove it. This is a nice idea, though I doubt many people will use it.