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Comment by m_0x | Hacker News Reader

Until companies ditch the stupid degree requirement for jobs that obviously do not require a degree, everybody is going to suffer.

Fewer colleges mean:

1) People out of jobs. Teachers will lose their main income and the remaining colleges will have no incentive to increase their payroll because where are they gonna go?

2) Getting into a college will be even more competitive. As companies will still look for people with degrees, colleges can charge even more and candidates to study there will have less choices.

This will only change when NOT studying at a college has no impact in your future income. Or the impact is lesser than today.

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> Until companies ditch the stupid degree requirement for jobs that obviously do not require a degree, everybody is going to suffer.

It’ll never happen. They need low effort filters.

SAT scores would work fine for this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griggs_v._Duke_Power_Co.

It’s hard to defend generic standardized tests. (Whereas ASVAB is ok.)

Yeah, it won't happen. It's easier to start requiring a master's degree to even be able to submit a CV for a job opening.

While many jobs do not in reality require more than a high-school level education, a college degree is a valuable filter for people who can commit to something that requires learning and applying what has been learned, and seeing it through over a period of 3-4 years.

For jobs that require a college degree, but the major subject of study doesn't matter, that is what they are using it for.

A High School diploma used to mean a lot more, when education was compulsory only to 8th grade. A modern high school diploma pretty much just certifies that you showed up, and the only people who don't have one are people who dropped out.

Or, staying at a previous job for 3-4 years can signal the same level of commitment. Dare I say, staying at a job for the same amount of time as a degree signals more commitment, as staying in college could just indicate 4 years of partying.

Yes, that's why after your first job, your college degree means a lot less. Some employers still require it, and some will consider "equivalent experience"

Where would you learn the skills for that first job? And which jobs would that be?

Your question implies colleges teaches you the skills required for jobs.

That's true in specialized career paths. A Doctor, a pharmacist and lawyers are good examples. Don't ditch the degree requirement for those.

However I've seen "offices" jobs where they only require people that can read, write, have basic MS Office skills and specially FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. You can learn that in high school.

But companies require Degrees for those jobs and it's the most idiotic thing I can think because:

a) Companies are downsizing the pool of potential candidates and, b) People with degrees (Some of them at least) will feel that job is not fulfilling. They will leave for better opportunities.

For those jobs, just learning on the fly will suffice.

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