Is College Worth it?

[lovcom]

There is a significant difference between IT and software engineering.

I would have to disagree.

The term "IT" is so broad, and vague. IT encompasses software engineering.

The context of my responses in this thread are for "developer", and a developer in IT is many things; programmer, developer, coder, software engineer, plus more.

Regardless, a great developer should be in the six figures by the 4-5th year of their career. It's just a matter of what skills to master and how one markets themselves. One needs to adapt to the changing industry; determine what the current hot skills are, because when one does this, one can easily make $150k or more each year, even in this downturned market.

I was told of this strategy by an old timer back in the last 1970s, and since the age of 24 (I'm now 49) I've been making six figures doing IT dev, and back before the term "IT" existed.

Oh, and I have no degree, and for IT development a degree is rarely necessary to make six figures...I've prove this with my 30+ year career.

[AtlantaLife&Health]

I say go to school. Your job isn't guaranteed. Don't wait until one day in the future where you might get laid off or fired and then you have the urge to want to attend school. Do it now while you're young. Go part-time, take your time and get your degree. Once you have it, it's yours!

[pikey412]

There is no guarantee you will be making $40,000 after you are finished school.

[amarowsky]

There is no guarantee you will be making $40,000 after you are finished school.

and not to put another damper on the school idea, but isn't software engineering easily outsourced?

Software engineering makes a comeback, despite outsourcing - BusinessWeek

that article says they still have a nice job demand for them, but that just seems to me like a job that could easily be outsourced to another country at a discounted pay. If you really truely think you will like the job and can afford the financial risk of switching careers do it!

I'm just playing devils advocate by trying to remind you of some of the obstacles and difficulties in switching around.

[frito833]

I would have to say no. I'm a Software Engineer and got my Computer Science degree 5 years ago. I learned everything I needed to know in my first semester of college which was the basics of programming and could of taught myself. To add, my college had a poor internship program and I had to approach tech companies myself and practically worked for minimum wage as a web programmer. This alone proved more valuable than my CS degree because in tech jobs experience is greater than a degree.

However, I can see gov't jobs requiring degrees but the private sector it's all about experience and if you can do the job fast and efficiently, the pay will come.

[lenbevy]

It depends on what you go back for. If you go back to a school where they prepare you for a career and employers hire students from that school then it could be a good move.