Imaduck posted:

I think a lot of the pushback you're getting here is coming from a generation that repeatedly got the advice "it doesn't matter what you major in; all you need is any college degree and there will be tons of good, well-paying jobs for you on the other side!" Lots of people my age were told this, and it's just not true. There are certain degrees that have a track record of high placement in well-paying jobs, and then there are the other degrees.

Nobody is saying that you can't get a great job with an English degree. What we're saying is that your pathway to that great job is probably going to be a lot harder. You can't just say "oh I have a college degree, I'll take my $70k/year please." Instead, you're probably going to have to spend many years moving from job to job, trying to distinguish yourself, trying to pick up new skills, trying to find a good in to a higher role, and really grind your way up. You might have to go back to school. You might have to luck into connections that happen to have the right opportunity for you at the right time. You're probably going to spend many years being relatively poor. You might not ever make it.

Or you can get a degree in a high demand field like Computer Science and be offered a good, high-paying job a year before you graduate. I'm not saying that that pathway is easier, or that it's for everyone, but it's just not the same thing as getting a Philosophy degree.

I also kind of take issue with you saying there are lots of jobs out there that require just any degree. We're talking in generalities here, but I think that's becoming less and less true, and more and more jobs are going back to "a degree or 4 years experience." Even jobs that say they require a degree will often hire someone who can demonstrate the skills they need without the degree.