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Comment by finder83 | Hacker News Reader

Maybe jobs that require college degrees pay higher on average, but it's just not true that for a high paying job you need a college degree. I was making over 100k before I finished my bachelor's doing computer programming. I've known people who own plumbing, welding, or electrical businesses that have a license that are millionaires that don't have college degrees. Maybe those aren't "jobs", but the highest paying jobs often don't follow the beaten path.

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If that's the case why not do a degree you actually enjoy instead of a vocational degree? If you're a millionaire plumber, then paying tuition for an art history degree or whatever should be easy.

What makes you think they'd like art history over plumbing? They must have some likeness of their vocation if they decided to go into it.

There's also the issue that money isn't worth much until you transmute it into class privilege by way of elite education.

Or purchase a timber farm and setup shop.

Or invest in a prime developable area near a large metropolis.

Or look at the bank account and smile occasionally.

Class privilege comes with baggage. Better to focus on making the world a better place, starting with your own world -- which often keeps one from putting their nose up too high.

Actually I'd say it is the other way around. If you're a millionaire plumber then keeping up with other people with a similar level of wealth will reduce the worth of your money massively. At that point you're no longer ahead of 90% of people in the USA. You're at the bottom of your friends circle at least in terms of wealth.

That's sometimes the case. One of my friends who owned a share in a construction/hvac business (he had the master plumber's license) cashed out and got a degree in counseling. He's now a full-time counselor and enjoys helping people and donates a lot of time and resources doing service projects.

His brothers just enjoy what they do, so they still own the business.

Not everyone enjoys college. I'm one that would much rather learn on my own than through a classroom. I enjoy having learned the things I did in college and felt I needed the piece of paper (and am now working on a master's to change fields), but as far as I've seen, there's no such thing as a degree I would enjoy. Just work or books I would enjoy.

> Maybe jobs that require college degrees pay higher on average, but it's just not true that for a high paying job you need a college degree.

Great distinction to point out and I agree.

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