DISCLAIMER:
Keep in mind these are my own views—take everything with a grain of salt. I'm here to provide a different perspective.
"Go to college or you will not be successful". This is a famous quote by the majority of the population of the world over the age of 40. They grew up in a time where the internet was not commonly used which has disabled them from understanding the magnitude of how much information is readily available online for anyone to learn—at no cost. Universities are charging students a fortune for an outdated system that is robbing the future generation of its financial freedom and creativity.
I studied business at the University of Southern California. I took a class on marketing 2017 and I loved everything I learned (past marketing campaigns in history, interesting books on the psychology behind marketing, and the theoretical marketing campaigns we came up with for a presentation) —except I was disappointed with what I didn't learn:
Current marketing tactics that are working for companies today, Facebook and Google Advertising, growth on social networks, the list goes on.
I realized this 2 years later after all the experience I gained from working with different companies. You gain skills from experience and that is what is important in today's world. No one cares if you got an A on your test, they care if you can build the python program they're requesting, they care about if you can decrease their CPM, they care about results. I remember asking my friends who were in the computer science school about what they've learned in University and they said it was nothing compared to the experience they gained from their summer internships working for companies. "The knowledge taught in school is mostly theoretical and is less applicable compared to the knowledge that is gained through experience".
However, if you are or plan on going —the network you can gain (if you take advantage during your time there) from joining student clubs, making new friends, and going out of your way to establishing connections is what will count the most.
Example: Jimmy is a smart person who is best friends with Bob. Bob has a brother that owns a multi-million dollar company that is searching for a marketer. Jimmy is looking for a role in marketing and this is a perfect opportunity for him to ask Bob to help him land the job since Bob's brother is the owner! Even though there were probably other candidates that would have been better than Jimmy, Bob's brother still chose him because of the connection he has with Bob. My point is to build as many connections as you can while you're young because your network = your net worth.
Luckily, the youth is learning that they can supercharge their knowledge and experience about any industry with Youtube, Udemy, Coursera, TikTok, Instagram, etc.
For the people that are concerned about how structure is needed for education—here's a great alternative that I've heard great things about that provides a higher ROI than current CS programs at universities:
Lambda School - 100% live and online, and uses interactive technology to teach people the tech skills they need to launch a new career in just 9 months. You only pay when you land a job.
Just how Lambda is focused only on CS, there are other similar online schools that focus on other industries and provide the same flexibility, pricing, and experience.
Conclusion:
I wonder how the educational system will change in the future as it begins to realize the educational content influx that is coming from creators of all different backgrounds and industries worldwide.