From the course: Developer Career Paths and Certifications

Do you need a college degree?

From the course: Developer Career Paths and Certifications

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Do you need a college degree?

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- My father never finished his college degree. And that was one of his big regrets. He worked hard and had a successful career, plus he made sure my siblings and I got college degrees. However, things have changed a lot since I got my bachelor's degree. The cost of a college education has skyrocketed in recent years. In state tuition prices grew by 63% from 2008 to 2020 in public universities. And the average cost of tuition in 2019 to 2020 was $41,426 at private colleges. Companies like Uber, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and Twitter, were all started by founders without college degrees, therefore more and more companies, including alphabet ,which is Google's parent company IBM and others no longer require college degrees. And stack Overflow's annual survey, 75% of developers completed the equivalent of a bachelor's degree. 62% of them have a degree in Computer Science or a related field. And 85% of their respondents felt that a formal education was somewhat important. In talking to hiring managers, recruiters, and other professionals, I found that college credentials are part of the story that can help you stand out from the rest. Getting a degree shows that you're capable of completing a structure curriculum and that can be a positive thing, but it doesn't speak to your level of competence. Now, here are some things that are really important, first attending a well-known school. Second, getting exceptional grades, third participating in internships that yield meaningful work. And finally working on great projects. Now those are better indicators of whether or not you can succeed. Now my first degree was a bachelor's degree in journalism and I wasn't as good a student as I should have been. When I went back for my master's degree, I studied much harder, I got a great GPA while I was holding a full-time job and teaching part-time at a local college. Now that tells a better story about how far I've come. Education isn't a rubber stamp that guarantees you a job but it can be a useful place to explore things you might be interested in and can help tell the story of what type of person you are.

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