Comments on: College Education: Why we Go http://blog.matthewdoyle.net/2010/01/25/college-education/ Bridging the gap between business and information technology Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:12:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Matthew Doyle http://blog.matthewdoyle.net/2010/01/25/college-education/comment-page-1/#comment-1625 Matthew Doyle Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:55:25 +0000 http://blog.matthewdoyle.net/?p=151#comment-1625 <blockquote>Something I’m curious to know is how do you feel about post-grad education? Specifically in relation to IT? I remember you tried to do it around the time you were graduating, but now, three years later, do you still think its worth it?</blockquote> I'll handle the easier question first. Personally I would only consider going back to school if I were to focus on something vastly different than what I studied, or to sharply focus on one aspect of my current degree. For example, I think about going to get my MBA often, because eventually I would like to be in more of a leadership role sometime in my life, and the strength of that training would assist me that that leadership role. Or, I could go back to school in IT, or CS or whatever, and focus on a very specific specialty, and become an expert in it. <blockquote>Baring all this in mind, and playing devil’s advocate, what makes going to RIT that much more valuable than say DeVry?</blockquote> I don't feel qualified to answer this question because in your post you brought up money, and I'll just say it outright: I am one of the very, very, VERY fortunate people out there that I was helped 100% financially through my college education. I don't know the pain of paying for a really expensive school. However, I will give my honest opinion: Up to present time, it'sall about the name. RIT is regarded as a fine technological school, DeVry is joked about on Family Guy (I personally won't judge what I don't know). I think moving forward however, paying the higher price will have to net you more than a name. For example, while it can never be guaranteed, I believe high end (and high cost) schools should have one of their core values to be "Help each and every one of our students find a job after college." Also, schools need to take care of their alumni. RIT is ranked top 20 of the best career services schools. Paul, thanks for a well thought out post.

Something I’m curious to know is how do you feel about post-grad education? Specifically in relation to IT? I remember you tried to do it around the time you were graduating, but now, three years later, do you still think its worth it?

I’ll handle the easier question first. Personally I would only consider going back to school if I were to focus on something vastly different than what I studied, or to sharply focus on one aspect of my current degree. For example, I think about going to get my MBA often, because eventually I would like to be in more of a leadership role sometime in my life, and the strength of that training would assist me that that leadership role. Or, I could go back to school in IT, or CS or whatever, and focus on a very specific specialty, and become an expert in it.

Baring all this in mind, and playing devil’s advocate, what makes going to RIT that much more valuable than say DeVry?

I don’t feel qualified to answer this question because in your post you brought up money, and I’ll just say it outright: I am one of the very, very, VERY fortunate people out there that I was helped 100% financially through my college education. I don’t know the pain of paying for a really expensive school. However, I will give my honest opinion: Up to present time, it’sall about the name. RIT is regarded as a fine technological school, DeVry is joked about on Family Guy (I personally won’t judge what I don’t know). I think moving forward however, paying the higher price will have to net you more than a name. For example, while it can never be guaranteed, I believe high end (and high cost) schools should have one of their core values to be “Help each and every one of our students find a job after college.” Also, schools need to take care of their alumni. RIT is ranked top 20 of the best career services schools.

Paul, thanks for a well thought out post.

]]> By: Paul http://blog.matthewdoyle.net/2010/01/25/college-education/comment-page-1/#comment-1624 Paul Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:14:18 +0000 http://blog.matthewdoyle.net/?p=151#comment-1624 From the tone of her article, I got the impression that she isn't really hostile to the idea of going to college, just ideal of going to an expensive, higher-end private institution (which are stereotypically liberal arts based) in order to get the best possible education and be assured of landing a good job right out of college. From that view, I can see her point as the average tuition costs continue to go up thousands at a time (don't forget, RIT is a hefty 30k+ a year, nothing to sneeze at). Whatever benefit you receive from 4-5 years of college, will hinder you in the long term when you have to spend potentially decades paying back the financial costs of that benefit plus interest, unless you are fortunate enough to receive financial aid, scholarships, or other funding (and even then, it is rare that those cover the entirety of your costs). The two advantages you mention college provides: a safe environment to try new things and the chance to obtain a degree can be found at their core at a cheaper, lesser school all the same. Also, while the degree is important for getting a job later, it won't exactly get you into the cube right after you get it (not anymore at least). From my experience (in relation to IT), most employers seem to count the degree as a binary decision when evaluating you (do you have one or don't you), and after that initial check, the decision to hire you a mainly based around your job experience and your knowledge of the subject matter, the latter of which, as she points out, isn't exclusively obtainable at college anymore. Baring all this in mind, and playing devil's advocate, what makes going to RIT that much more valuable than say DeVry? Something I'm curious to know is how do you feel about post-grad education? Specifically in relation to IT? I remember you tried to do it around the time you were graduating, but now, three years later, do you still think its worth it? From the tone of her article, I got the impression that she isn’t really hostile to the idea of going to college, just ideal of going to an expensive, higher-end private institution (which are stereotypically liberal arts based) in order to get the best possible education and be assured of landing a good job right out of college. From that view, I can see her point as the average tuition costs continue to go up thousands at a time (don’t forget, RIT is a hefty 30k+ a year, nothing to sneeze at). Whatever benefit you receive from 4-5 years of college, will hinder you in the long term when you have to spend potentially decades paying back the financial costs of that benefit plus interest, unless you are fortunate enough to receive financial aid, scholarships, or other funding (and even then, it is rare that those cover the entirety of your costs). The two advantages you mention college provides: a safe environment to try new things and the chance to obtain a degree can be found at their core at a cheaper, lesser school all the same. Also, while the degree is important for getting a job later, it won’t exactly get you into the cube right after you get it (not anymore at least). From my experience (in relation to IT), most employers seem to count the degree as a binary decision when evaluating you (do you have one or don’t you), and after that initial check, the decision to hire you a mainly based around your job experience and your knowledge of the subject matter, the latter of which, as she points out, isn’t exclusively obtainable at college anymore. Baring all this in mind, and playing devil’s advocate, what makes going to RIT that much more valuable than say DeVry?

Something I’m curious to know is how do you feel about post-grad education? Specifically in relation to IT? I remember you tried to do it around the time you were graduating, but now, three years later, do you still think its worth it?

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