Homeschool News & Views

Issue 95, November 23, 2008

From Homeschool Helpers

In association with Pass It On Ministries

By Dan L. White

Listen to this article.

I have noticed that a high number of home school graduates start their own businesses. We have commented before on one such home school grad who started Baker Creek Seeds. I know a number of others, whose businesses are not as big as that, but still an enterprise begun by a home school grad. These are businesses which were begun by home school grads who did not go to college, or in other cases, were begun while they were still going to college, and were not a direct result of their college education.

We have also had some discussions with Christian public school graduates. For the most part, they know of no other alternative besides going to college. Starting their own business does not appear to be in their universe. They usually only think of going from one institution, public school, to another institution, a university, then graduating on to another institution, a large corporation.

The idea of going to university in this country is like a religious creed. It’s considered near blasphemy to go against that. Figures are always used to show that an average university graduate makes so much more than a high school graduate, so anyone who wants to have anything at all must go to university.

Once in a while, though, a brave soul will challenge that doctrine.

I saw a mathematical study done several years ago which added in the amount of money a student spends on college, and the amount of money a student would make if he was working instead of going to college, and assigned a moderate return on all that money. When figured that way, college grads were the poorer.

Along the line of challenging the go to college creed, there was an unusual column this week on The Street.com, a financial web site. It was written by James Altucher, who is a regular writer on that site, and who is involved with more businesses than I will bother to mention. He holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell and was a doctoral candidate at Carnegie Mellon University, so he has had a lot of college. He is also a nationally ranked chess master.

He writes:

“I said I have no intention of sending my kids to college.

And this is the crux of the matter, I feel, for young people who want to be successful over the next 50-year period. I find the thought of college these days abhorrent, particularly for kids aged 18-20.

Kids have a lot of energy at that point, and to deaden it with a forced, unsupervised diversity of random topics taught by mostly mediocre professors is a waste of that. I can't remember anything good coming from my freshman year other than that I started a business with a few of my classmates that inspired me for other businesses later on.”

He explains a little about that business, and then goes on:

“Let’s summarize quickly what’s wrong with college.

1. First and foremost, it's too expensive.

To send a kid to college you basically need up to $200,000. (I know these numbers are debatable, but bear with me and consider all expenses and a top-tier school.) That's insane. There's no way the incremental advantage your children get from having a diploma will ever pay that amount back. Perhaps for the first time ever the opportunity cost ("opportunity cost" being a phrase I remember from Economics 101) of college does not equal the extra profits generated by the degree.”

Most universities are not as expensive as the top tier that Altucher mentions, but the cost is very burdensome. Many students now take 5 years to graduate instead of 4, and most students graduate with a load of debt.

Altucher goes on about what’s wrong with a college education:

“2. I don't believe in a balanced education.

Most colleges require kids to take a smattering of art, math, sciences, etc. Taking 10 different courses a year on wildly different topics, with enormous homework responsibilities in each one, not to mention droning, boring professors for at least eight of the 10, is the surest formula for creating complete non-interest and inability to remember anything in any of the topics covered. What a waste of $200,000.”

Which is to say –

in many, perhaps most, of the courses taken in college, there is not a lot of actual learning going on. There are a lot of classes being taken, for sure, but people learn because they love what they are learning. Nobody learns much when they’re bored. Also, cheating is rampant in universities. For most students the goal is not to get knowledge, but to get a degree. By and large, they succeed at both of those.

Altucher’s third reason for not sending his kids to college is:

“3. There are far better uses of time.

What could you be doing instead of college?

a. Working –

not just a labor or service job, but there are many Internet-content jobs out there that are available to high school or college-age kids. I have high school and college kids working for me right now who are making over $50,000 a year from writing gigs on the Internet. Kids can scour Craigslist for opportunities, beloved blogs or Web sites related to their favorite interests. Companies are dying for good content. Create your own blog, get noticed, build relationships with other content companies and communities, and so on.”

When most people think of not going to college, they automatically assume that such persons will only be in the worst jobs. That assumption is itself a product of the institutionalized thinking, the thinking that you just can’t do anything without the institution.

That is one of the greatest costs of going to university -- giving up the custom of thinking on your own, apart from any institution. This is the inertia of institutionalization.

When people get used to being in institutions, they get used to not doing anything themselves. They’re always herded in by the crowd, so they seldom think of not going with the crowd.

This also happens in churches. According to surveyor George Barna, almost all of the most dedicated Christians in America only worship God in church. They do not think to break free of the mindless herd and actually go to God Himself. They’re institutionalized.

What else could you be doing instead of college? Altucher answers:

“b. Take half the fee for one semester, give it your kid, and tell him or her to start a revenue-generating business.

Not every kid has entrepreneurial sensibilities, but it's always worth it to at least try once. And the cost for starting a business is next to zero, so it's a very viable alternative.”

The biggest problem that most people have with their jobs is their boss. Most people would like to have their own business, where they can be their own boss. But few people ever actually try to have their own business. They go through their whole lives, never even giving it a go..

.

Altucher also suggests, instead of college:

“c. Spend a year trying to get good at one thing.

Whatever your child's greatest interest now is, whether cooking, chess, writing, math, there are so many resources on the Internet available for learning that college is almost the last place a kid should go to pursue a passion. Intense, several-hour-a-day immersion in a favorite topic is the surest way to become an expert in that field.”

Let me repeat that bold statement: “college is almost the last place a kid should go to pursue a passion.”

I have often mentioned how homeschooling does allow students to focus their interests and talents. A number of musicians we have known have done that. The guy who started Baker Creek Seeds did that, from the time he was 13 years old, because homeschooling gave him the time and freedom to pursue his passion. I know another young man who was handicapped at reading, but very skillful at mechanical designing, so guess what business he has now? Homeschooling allowed him to develop his individual talents. He probably would have done terribly in college. Someday he will probably have college grads working for him.

Altucher also says that instead of doing college, do:

“d. Charity.

Pick a favorite cause and do nothing but that for a semester or a year.

Build houses in Appalachia, for instance. Feed dinners to the homeless. Or take one semester's tuition, set up your own micro-charity and give the money out in $100 increments to good causes or situations your child thinks are worthy. Write up each situation in a notebook, and by the end your child will have a whole life of lives changed.”

Now that idea really appeals to me. The most fulfilling life is one that does not focus on self. We just finished writing a book titled Depressions, the Ancient Bible Jubilee, and You. Part of the Jubilee system which God set up in the Holy Land was to take the Sabbath year off. They didn’t need to make more money that year. Yahweh had promised they would always have enough, if they obeyed Him. So what would they do with that year off from work? The obvious thing was to spend the whole year serving God and others. What a great way to spend a year!

Or a lifetime, for that matter.

Lastly, Altucher says:

“And what about travel? Well, I'm not a big believer in that unless it's supervised. There's plenty of time to travel later in life.

Right at home there's a plethora of opportunities that can far exceed the value of a college education at one-tenth the cost, and lead to greater experience and opportunities in career, wisdom and life development.”

I think that the best time to travel is when you are young, before you are tied down with family. Most people don’t get much traveling done after that. Travel is certainly part of being educated, and getting a person above localized thinking.

What an interesting article that is, from an unexpected source, one who has been to a lot of college. Those are points that Christian homeschool parents and grads will do well to consider.

Another cost of the big university, which he doesn’t mention, and the biggest, is the moral cost. Universities as a whole are the most immoral places in America. For a young Christian to willingly go into such an environment is like playing Russian roulette, with 5 bullets and 1 empty chamber. The statistics bear that out. Most young Christians get shot down in college.

Considering all these points –

Is it worth it?