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Townhall...
Why College is Not
For Everyone
By Katie Kieffer
Peter Thiel is rocking the boat of higher education. The libertarian
entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and co-founder of PayPal is sending
liberal college administrators into a tizzy with his latest push to
encourage young innovators to ditch college for two years and pursue
entrepreneurship.
Last week, Thiel awarded 20 young people with “20 Under 20” Thiel
Fellowships: $100,000 and two years of mentorship to develop
entrepreneurial ventures in science and technology.
Thiel’s dismisses conventional wisdom, which says that college is the
necessary next-step for success after high school. He understands that
conventional wisdom is conventional ignorance now that the American
university system is broken.
Today’s students pay bloated prices so universities can hire a fleets
of non-academic staff to monitor student speech codes, distribute
cookies in campus lounges and court elites like Bill Clinton to speak
on-campus and warn young people never to believe: “There is no such
thing as a good tax…”
Tuition is rising and debt loads are mounting while students at
institutions as prestigious as Stanford’s Graduate School of Business
are failing to learn basic skills. When Stanford graduate students rely
on private coaches outside the classroom to teach them how to write for
business, you know higher education is deteriorating.
I took a hybrid route for my own higher education. I went to college
and started an entrepreneurial venture at the same time. My path was
unique and challenging, so I understand first-hand that Thiel is
offering young entrepreneurs the opportunity of a lifetime.
In college, your liberal arts professors may provide you with tips on
how to outline your thoughts, but they generally expect that you
already know how to give a 10-minute presentation or write a 15-page
paper. Meanwhile, your business professors do not teach you how to run
a business. Rather, they lecture you on business models, assign you to
read case studies and tell you to look for an internship.
Looking back, I realize that I really did not need college. I think
many young people do not need college to become successful. The real
world lessons I took away from my college experience came from running
a conservative student newspaper on a shoestring budget out of my dorm
room and from the experience I gained during my internship in
commercial real estate.
Today, historic numbers of high-school graduates are going to college.
More than ever, parents are pouring their hard-earned savings into
college educations for their children.
Venture capitalist, author and parent James Altucher argues that it is
irrational for parents to blindly pay for their child’s higher
education. New York Magazine reports Altucher as saying: “What am I
going to do? When [my daughters are] 18 years old, just hand them
$200,000 to go off and have a fun time for four years? Why would I want
to do that? … The cost of college in the past 30 years has gone up
tenfold. Health care has only gone up sixfold, and inflation has only
gone up threefold. Not only is it a scam, but the college presidents
know it. That’s why they keep raising tuition.”
It is not cruel and unusual punishment to expect an 18-year-old to
finance his or her own higher education. In fact, forcing them to do so
could help them decide whether they even need college. My parents told
me, “You’re on your own for college.” So, I chose to be a college
student and an entrepreneur simultaneously because I had a boatload of
self-motivation, I was blessed with an academic scholarship that
allowed me to graduate debt-free, and, because I had developed a
growing network of accomplished mentors who generously coached me along
the way.
Parents, before you feel tempted to write out that six-figure tuition
check, consider doing yourselves and your child a favor by honestly
assessing the skills that your child demonstrates. If your child
thrives within structure or if they want to pursue law or medicine,
then college is likely the right path. However, if your child thrives
in a creative environment, is self-driven and is constantly innovating,
you should consider offering them your own version of Thiel’s 20 Under
20 fellowship as an alternative to subsidizing their college tuition.
Thiel contends that many parents shy away from even thinking about a
nontraditional path for their children because they view college as an
insurance policy. “I think that’s the way probably a lot of parents
think about it. It’s a way for their kids to be safe … an insurance
policy against falling out of the middle class. …Why are we spending
ten times as much for insurance as we were 30 years ago?”
That’s a good question. More high-school students and their parents
should consider whether there is an entrepreneurial, Thiel-style
alternative to success before they impulsively jump into college debt.
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