Table of contents
Open Table of contents
Learning?
Let’s be real for a second—if you need school to learn, what you actually need is structure. And if you need structure to stay disciplined, then do you really have the desire to learn in the first place?
Think about it: literally everything you could want to learn is available online. For free. There’s no secret university vault where knowledge is locked away. So if school isn’t about learning, what’s it really about? Structure.
And heres the thing: discipline isn’t something you should need school to impose on you. If you’re 18 and fresh out of high school, sure—maybe you need that external push. But if you’re already deep into your career and still rely on a university to give you structure and discipline? That’s actually kind of a bad sign.
Achievement?
Now, let’s talk about the achievement argument. College degrees—especially graduate degrees—are basically participation trophies for the technology field. Universities will gladly take your money and hand you a piece of paper that makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something. But have you actually done anything? Nope. Not in the real world.
People who lean too hard on their degrees are often the worst kinds of coworkers. They’re the ones who peaked in college and still talk about it like it was yesterday. “Back in my master’s program…” is just the tech version of “Back in high school, I was quarterback.” Same energy.
And if we’re being honest, certifications are the same deal—just a cheaper scam than a full-blown degree.
When Should You Go to College?
Alright, so if college isn’t useful for learning or achievement, why would a working professional ever go back? A few valid reasons:
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Networking. The biggest reason to go to college isn’t the classes—it’s the people you meet. Your career growth is tied to who you know, and college is a (very expensive) way to build those connections. That said, you can build an amazing network through conferences, meetups, and industry groups without spending six figures.
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Academia or Research. If you want to work in academia or get into deep research, then yeah, college is the place for that. But that’s a niche path, not the default.
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Career Change. Some careers require a degree—doctor, lawyer, CPA, etc. If you want to switch into one of those, then yes, back to school you go. But if you’re already in tech and just looking to “level up,” save your money.
TL;DR
If you’re already working in your field, going back to school is probably a waste of time and money. You don’t need a degree to learn, you don’t need a diploma to prove you’ve “achieved” something, and you don’t need school to force you to be disciplined.
Go to college if you need to build a network, want to be in academia, or are switching to a degree-required profession. Otherwise, skip the student loans and just… get to work.
Hope this helps anyone on the fence about dropping thousands on a degree that probably won’t actually move the needle. 🚀