Is College Worth It?

AMERICANS are LOSING FAITH in HIGHER EDUCATION amid RISING TUITION FEES, UNCERTAIN PAYOFF and CULTURE WARS on CAMPUS

-  Khaleda Rahman

JORDAN RECONNU, 23, OF DALLAS, TEXAS, HAS no regrets about not getting a college degree.

During the one semester of college she attended after graduating from high school in 2019, she felt like she wasn't learning anything new. The idea of continuing did not appeal to her, and realizing how much her college education would end up costing, she quit and now works as a manager of a fast-food restaurant.

"I wasn't thrilled with taking basic classes for two years and wasting even more money going to the same classes that we covered in high school," she told Newsweek.

Higher education would not have improved her career prospects, she said, adding that she feels it is only worth pursuing for those hoping to work in fields that require it. "I feel like experience is what makes people marketable," she said. Her mother, Jacque Abron, agrees with the sentiment.

Abron earned a college degree before becoming a teacher, but she is glad her daughter won't be saddled with student debt that for her has soared to more than $100,000 with added interest over the years. College is "overrated," Abron said. "I don't see the use of a degree in this day and age.

Employers are demanding higher education, and they serve no purpose." Reconnu and Abron are among many Americans who have little faith in the value of a college degree, seeing universities as places where political agendas are pushed and where students are not taught the skills they need to succeed in life, but put on a path to a lifetime of oppressive debt.