One of the articles can be read here.
Though I'm officially not doing much with my college degree, I found the process incredibly beneficial. Besides learning course material, college taught me time management and self discipline.
Both VITAL in life.
My stepmom just told me yesterday that the company she works for hired a few people to stuff letters in envelopes, a job I would of laughed at and passed up at fifteen. Every person hired for that job has a college diploma... to stuff LETTERS... into ENVELOPES. There just aren't many jobs out there so they take what they can get.
In a time so shaky and financially unstable is teaching children to drop out of school really the right choice?
What teenager can resist $100,000!!! It sounds like a lifetime of luxury when your sixteen but money goes fast and a lacking education might not make up for careless spending and an empty business plan.
Would you persuade your children to drop out of school if it meant $100,000 toward their dream business? I want to hear your thoughts!
12 comments:
Wow...as a HS Teacher in a low-income school, this is awful!! I don't want my kids to see this in any way, shape or form :/
I do understand the idea behind it, but it's not something we should promote. Offering anyone $100,000 is too good to pass up, so why tempt kids with this? Yikes! I guess it's good that he's only offering it to 20 kids...
P&B- I absolutely agree! It just seems reckless to me!
An article in the Denver Post this morning says that kids just aren't learning much in college. I referenced that article on my FB wall. Here is another article I like. I have observed that colleges have started to see their main mission to be social indoctrination.
http://townhall.com/columnists/DennisPrager/2008/03/04/before_sending_your_child_to_a_college,_ask_these_questions
How horrible! Of course kids need an education. 100k is a drop in the bucket compared to the lifetime investment of getting a college degree. Sure, a recent college graduate might at first, and in a recession, stuff envelopes. But not in the long run. The employment numbers in our country is 16% for non-college degreed and 4.8% with a degree. That's significant.
If he was talking about getting kids to drop out of high school, I'd be lining up to stop him.
But I work at a college and I see all sorts of people who just don't have it in them to be successful. Either through lack of opportunity or lack of motivation. I agree that college is a good thing, but it's not for everyone.
I don't think offering students 100K to take a break from college and try a different path while keeping themselves from amassing huge amounts of student loan debt is a bad thing at all.
I think it can depend on the kid. If you are a junior or senior and are highly motivated to start your own business with that money - then more power to ya. I have a feeling the ones that will take "advantage" of the offer will in fact take advantage of the offer. $100K will be gone in an instant. Best to stay in school!!
I read the article with mixed feelings. I think that Thiele is offering this up because the cost of going to college is rising faster than people's income. He is concerned about the debt that young people are incurring to go to college. This is actually an "across the board" problem: our income is not keeping pace with the cost of living. The way that this article was worded, I do think that he intends to vet these young people carefully, so that he chooses someone who already thinks like an entrepeneur. However, in order for his investment to actually pay off, the greatest resource in this equation is the man himself. He is an Ivy League graduate with a master's (I think). He started PayPal and sold it to the tune $1.5 million. He was an original investor in facebook. He has degrees in philosophy and law. He has even taught college courses. If he just gives them the money and doesn't look back, it is like flushing it. If he takes those 20 kids on as apprentices and becomes their "teacher," it will be a lot like going to college. The college of Thiel. That is a lot of one-on-one attention from someone who knows exactly what they are doing in starting a business. If you look at it through that lens, that is a sweet deal. I wish I was less than 20 and had a superstar start-up idea!
That is ridiculous!
Probably not. I'm in medical school and as much as $100K might SEEM to a 16 year old, it's not that much in the real world. Also, what can $100K even get a person? That couldn't even pay for HALF of medical school, so I'd imagine that it wouldn't go that far in starting up a business either. That guy can keep his money. Education all the way!
Thanks for the comment and for following. And, I agree! He was TOTALLY spying! (Too bad there's nothing good on my Facebook profile! Medical schools also spy, you know... :D)
That is the most asinine plan ever. $100,000 sounds like a lot of money but in actuality it is nothing. An education will tak you a lot further then $100,000 ever could.
I have mixed feelings on this one. I went to college and while it did teach me self discipline and a lot about myself, I wonder what it would have been like not to go. Was the cost of learning more about myself worth it? I don't know. I think it all depends on the kid. I'm surely not using my degree now, but I might find it invaluable later. I do like the fact that I have it in my back pocket if needed. Some people are more talented in other ways and have no need for college though. It's a toss up!
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