大學教育純屬浪費錢財的10大原因(上)

The idea of a college education is as American as apple pie. We all grow up with the hope that we can have a college education and that one is necessary in order to succeed in life.

接受大學教育對於美國人來說就像吃蘋果派一樣稀鬆平常。我們從小就接受這樣的思維：大學教育必不可少，那是成功的必備因素。

Children of Ivy League graduates may grow up thinking that Harvard, Yale or other such institutions are their birthright, their parents instilling the expectation that they will go almost from the cradle.

畢業於常春藤的家長會給尚在襁褓之中的孩子灌輸這樣的期待，使他們的孩子覺得天生就應該進入哈佛、耶魯或者類似的學校。

Other children, particularly very intelligent ones, born to less wealthy families may be pushed by parents and teachers to see a route to college as the way to a better life. It is no surprise that sports scholarships are so heavily contested.

出生平凡但聰慧過人的孩子老師和父母就會讓他考入大學以贏取更好的生活。體育獎學金的競爭如此激烈也不奇怪。

We tell our children that if only they go to college they are set for life, they will earn a premium over and above what they could have earned without those extra years of study.

我們會告訴孩子，只要考上了大學你將過上吃穿不愁的優質生活，而沒有這些學習，你想都不要想了。

We have repeated this mantra to ourselves for so long that it has become accepted fact.

這些“咒語”經過不斷重複，已經成爲無需爭辯的事實了。

What we have consistently failed to do, however, is to undertake reality checks to see whether the story we spin ourselves still has some basis in fact.

我們一貫失敗的的是，是否能在講述自己的故事時仍可保持以事實爲依據。

Does college really confer a premium and if so is that premium worth it? Or, alternatively, is it all a big con?

上大學是必須的嗎，如果是，價值有那麼高嗎？或與之相反，這其實是個騙局？

Is college an industry like any other that uses advertising (false or otherwise) to try to get us to part with our money in return for a dubious product?

大學是像其它工業產出的產品一樣，通過廣告進行推銷的嗎？

Here are our top 10 reasons to save your money and stay away from college.

下面是不讀大學把錢存下來的理由：

one really knows what to do with their life age 18

10.18歲時候沒有人知道自己應該做什麼

When you are 18 years old it is easy to think that the world is your oyster. It is true that your whole life is before you and the directions it can take are limitless. You can, if you are lucky, do anything.

18歲時候你覺得整個世界都是美好的。想要的一切近在咫尺，任何方向都有可能。如果運氣好的話，就沒有你做不了的事。

The vast majority of American children are not worldly wise, they know little of life outside their town or state.

絕大多數的美國孩子與其他國家相比眼界較窄，對他們鎮和州之外的事情知之甚少。

It is difficult to put an absolute figure on it but it seems that less than 5% of Americans like to travel abroad.

孩子們很難對是否要上大學有全面考慮，美國人經常出國旅行的人數比例不足5%。

This means that a child born in the US is far less likely to be aware of life in all its glory and complexity and their peers from Europe. They have a very sheltered and limited world view.

這意味着出生在美國的孩子對生活的理解和認知的廣度相比歐洲的孩子要淺顯很多，他們的眼界和世界觀都是有限的。

Sure they may want to be a doctor or a lawyer but how many of them actually know what those jobs entail (glamorized Hollywood shows aside).

他們想成爲醫生或者律師，但，許多人又不是很瞭解這些領域（不包括好萊塢電影的印象）。

They may want to be an architect but have they any experience of the type of environments they could be working in?

他們想成爲建築師，卻又不瞭解建築師的工作環境。

The sad truth is that unless children have really done their research (and be truthful how many really have) they may end up limiting their options by going to college and choosing the wrong course.

事實上，除非孩子們真的做了全面的調查（坦率地說，有多少真的做了），積累起豐富的認知才能避免選錯專業。

Changing your major can be expensive and time-consuming.

換專業不僅很昂貴而且又很浪費時間。

Taking the time out to do a gap year (a European concept that has been gaining popularity in the US) can help an 18 year old to figure out what they really want to do and to see whether or not college should be a part of that plan.

花一年的過渡期（過渡期,來自歐洲的概念並在美國逐漸流行）會幫助18歲的孩子找到什麼是真正想要的和是否要上大學。

everyone has something it becomes worth less in the real world

9.人人都有，含金量下降

In 2009 President Obama said that his goal was that by 2020 America should have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.

2009年，美國總統奧巴馬說他的目標是截止到2020年美國將擁有最高比例的受大學教育程度人口。

This would mean, in practice that significantly more than 50% of the school leaving population will need to be in college in 2020 to meet that ill thought out goal. At the present time around 35% of young Americans attend college.

意思是，到2020年，會有超過50%沒讀過大學的人需要上大學。目前爲止共有35%的美國年輕人讀大學。

Increasing this percentage has a number of challenges not least requiring an expansion of infrastructure and finding lecturers for all those extra students.

快速增長的學生數量急需大量的基礎設施和足夠多的講師。

Are those lecturers going to be any good? Are the buildings the students learn in going to be up to standard?

講師的水平足夠高嗎？教學樓的質量能滿足需要嗎？

Almost certainly not, this means that even if college is made affordable students will be paying for a lower class product.

如果不能，那就意味支付着相同學費得到卻是低質量的教育。

Think also about the ramifications of mass enrolment on the 'premium' a college degree confers.

想想好大學爲了滿足大量學生而涌現出的分校。

Will having more college graduates magic the required graduate jobs out of thin air? No it won't.

更多的大學畢業生會製造出更多的就業機會嗎？不會。

If it is too easy to get a degree graduates will need something else to set them apart from the crowd. This will mean more time in college to get a Masters or a PhD.

如果獲取學位過於簡單，那你若想在競爭中脫穎而出就還必須得有其它技能。這意味着，必須花更多的時間來取得一個碩士或者博士學位纔有競爭力。

This in turn means more years out of the workplace and even more college debt to service. Enrolling more people in college is a lose-lose.

更少的工作掙錢的時間，更多的大學費用，更多的人讀大學是個雙輸的局面。

Funds would be better spent ensuring that entrance tests are rigorous and that scholarships are available to ensure that there is equality of access to the opportunities a college education can offer for the right jobs.

嚴格的入學考試能夠保證資金的高效率，獎學金則能夠給拮据的同學有相同的學習機會。

is possible to access high quality courses online

8.可以獲得高質量的網上課程

The internet has opened up a wide range of alternatives to a traditional college education.

互聯網開闢了各種可以替代傳統大學教育的道路。

With platforms such as UDEMY and Coursera you can study what you want when you want, often through accredited institutions and gain credits at the same time.

在一些網絡培訓平臺上，比如UDEMY和Coursera，你可以隨時學習你想要的東西，通常經由認證機構並且你同時還可以獲得學分。

This means that you can tailor your studies to your own needs.

這意味着你可以爲你自己量身定製學習內容。

You can also study the courses at a time that is convenient for you, meaning that you have the opportunity to work and gain experience (and money) in the real world while still expanding your knowledge base. You will save a lot of money but still have access to a high quality qualification.

你也可以在你方便的時候學習課程，這表示在擴大知識面的同時你還有機會在現實生活中工作和獲取經驗（和金錢）。你可以節省一大筆錢，但是仍可以獲得高質量的資格證書。

The flexibility of an online course also means that it is easier to explore different areas of study to find out what is right for you without the negative consequences of changing a whole major.

網絡課程的靈活性也更有利於你探究不同的學習領域，找出什麼是適合你的，不會存在因改變一整個主修課目而帶來的負面影響。

Far more effectively than any Presidential announcement about mass participation in higher education, online courses have really made it possible for everyone to study to a level that they need to succeed and even excel in life.

網絡課程現以實現讓每個人的學習能達到他們想取得成功甚至在生活中勝過別人需要達到的水平，這比任何總統發佈關於大衆參與高等教育的宣言都有效。