David McCan

You make good points and there is a lot to agree with. Being curious, intelligent, and a life-long learner are important traits for success. Student debt is a killer which is a big problem in the US, but maybe not as much in Europe (?). There are lots of people in IT who are self-taught and found their own way to success. There is an amazing wealth of information and learning resources available online for people with hungry minds.

However, I would like to provide some balance. I was an IT manager for a number of years and I also was active in our local scout troop. I saw a number of the scouts who got off to a good start with a sound foundation and a good first job who went through the local community college IT programs. I also interviewed and hired a number of people for programming positions who had no college, who had college, and who had advanced degrees. There were people who did and did not excel in all categories, but there was a pattern. People with no college were more likely to have gaps in their knowledge. People with college were more likely to be critical thinkers and able to write and communicate better. People with advanced degrees were more likely to view the programs they worked on holistically within the wider business processes and more likely to build systems that lasted for a long time.

So can you make your way today in IT without college? Yes. Can going to college help you be better at what you do? Yes. Should you go into heavy debt to get a general IT related degree? Questionable. It probably still makes sense for advanced programming, hardcore computer science, and engineering related areas.

As the author indicates, there is a lot of value to college outside of the degree itself. There is a lot of value of a general education outside of a job.

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