Have you priced a college education lately? A bachelors degree at a private college is running about $30k. That’s tuition only, that doesn’t include books, a dorm or apartment, and not to mention four years of your life. You could argue that $30k is well worth what you are getting out of it, but is it really? Sure it is, if that’s your thing. A college education will get you a great internship at a great company, and if you work hard enough and devote enough time, you might get out of the mail room. I shouldn’t be so negative. Great people have came from not so great Universities, and built huge empires, but the majority of them will tell you that their “real” education came after they got out of college, and worked for a company where they were over worked and under appreciated. Please don’t think I am saying anything bad about a college education. If you know exactly what you want to do, and going to college is the only way to obtain it, then by all means, go. I’ll give you a perfect example; my wife has wanted to be a nurse since she was a little girl. She went to college, and now loves her job, but that is exactly what she got… a job. So if you want a “job”, then college is your best route.
Now, if what your looking for is a life where you make your own rules and set your own pace, then maybe a college education is not for you. This is where “Specialized Education” comes into play. When I say specialized, I mean targeted learning. Don’t think I am saying education is not important. Actually I am saying the exact opposite; education in my opinion is more important than anything else when starting a venture; but where the education comes from is totally up to you. If you know exactly what your passion is; then find a way to be the best at your passion and capitalize on it. Read books, ask questions, get a j.o.b in the field and absorb all of the information you can. Learn from the experts, and then apply your knowledge. Think about the opportunity you have. Imagine taking the four years and the $30k you would have spent on college and putting them toward your own venture. Sounds like start up heaven.
My favorite quote from any movie. Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting – “You wasted one hundred and fifty thousand dollars on an education you could have gotten for a dollar fifty in late fees at your local library”.
While that is a great quote, it’s not exactly true. Like I said earlier, if you are looking for a great job, then you need a great college degree.
How I educate myself: I am always looking into different ways to learn. My favorite is reading. I love to read and learn how other people have become successful. It’s kind of a hobby of mine. Whenever I decide to start a new business, I learn everything I can, I read books, I talk to other entrepreneurs who have had success, and then I dive head first. I will admit, I have taken some college courses, but not for the degree, I do it for the targeted learning. I may take one psychology class to learn more about how people think, or one writing class to help me present myself better; but that’s it. I don’t really need the degree, because I am self-employed.
When me and my business partner Jason decided to start this blog we looked for the best bloggers out there to learn from. We both know a lot about business, and a little about writing, but neither of us knew much about starting a website. I spent months following Darren Rowse at problogger.net, and learned a lot about blogging themes from Marko Saric on howtomakemyblog.com. These two guys are successful at what they do, so I wanted to absorb as much information from them as possible. The point is, education is what you make of it. You could spend four years at a college somewhere, and leave with little or no more knowledge than when you started. Choose how you want to be educated, and start learning. It is up to you to learn, and you can do it whatever way works best for you. It is never to late to start learning new things. The; you can’t teach a old dog new tricks saying is BS!
Here are some quick stats of some of the most wealthy people in the world:
- Bill Gates: Founder of Microsoft. Net worth of $40 billion plus. He dropped out of college to pursue his business ventures.
- Carlos Slim Helu: Founder of Telecom. Net worth of $35 billion. He is a self made billionaire with no formal education, and very humble beginnings.
- Larry Ellison: Founder of Oracle. Forbes.com lists him as the fourth richest man in the world. He dropped out of college at Illinois to pursue his dreams. Also had a very humble upbringing.
- Michael Dell: Founder of Dell Computers. Net worth of $12 billion. Dropped out of the University of Texas Austin to pursue his dreams.
- Jack Taylor: Founder of Enterprise Rent a Car. Net worth of $9.5 billion. Dropped out of Washington University
- Francois Pinault: Majority share holder for PPR a retail giant. Net worth of $7.6 billion. Self made billionaire, and a high school drop-out.
These are just a few examples of very successful people who chose to educate them selves in a different way than norm.
Summary: After writing this article I got a kind of offended look from my wife. I am in no way speaking down on a college education. All I am trying to say, is that going to college is not the only way to move forward with your venture and just because you don’t have a degree, doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. Please don’t take this article the wrong way.
