Steve Jobs, Bill Gates all did dropout from Colleges. So, Is Higher Education worth it?

Is higher education really required to make a mark? Does higher education really provide you with the edge over others as it claims? What happens if you don’t pursue higher education?

Well the answer is Partly Yes and Partly No. There are many well known and established people who are college dropouts. And when they left their schooling everyone claimed that they will get lost amidst the crowd. But surprisingly it was not meant to be so. Take for Example Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.

Bill Gates a dropout is responsible for his huge contribution in the world of computers. He is practically responsible for the functioning of computers across the globe. Who can underplay the role of Windows in our everyday life? Without Windows and Microsoft we are practically crippled.

Not to forget Steve Jobs. How can we undermine his creations like Apple Mac Computers and the vast range of “i” products like iPhone, iPod, and iPad? And this guy never completed his graduation and yet contributed so much to the world’s economy.

Then there is Mark Zuckerberg who dropped out of college to build the social networking site called Facebook. Almost everyone who uses computer and internet has an account in Facebook.

Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams dropped out of college to create Twitter in 2006, and that’s doing pretty well financially. Digg, a social news website, was started by dropout Kevin Rose in 2004, and David Karp, the inventor of Tumblr and a high school dropout, was valued at $800 million in 2011.

{Source: http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/2012/12/dropouts-give-reason-to-question-worth-of-higher-education-124}

But then at the same time can we overlook the fact that people like them are in the minority. Majority of us will stand nowhere without a proper education, otherwise the education industry would not be thriving. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs – whatever they achieved is because they followed their passion but then everyone is not that strong willed nor everyone gets those opportunities or has the resources. Many might come up different business ideas but it takes effort and resources to make it a reality.

For the rest of us, we have to depend on education to get a proper job and maintain our financial standard. How can we undermine the fact that education improves our skills and expertise? There are many professions like Doctor, Architect, and Engineer that has no value without proper education and degree from a reputed educational institution. Education has no replacement. If all of us decided to drop out of colleges and universities to pursue our passion, there is a high chance that many of us will fail to accomplish what we set out to achieve. So we can very well estimate that there will be a huge number of unemployed youths which in turn will affect the economy of the country. And instead of being a flourishing country, it will end up being poor and financially dependent on other countries.

By Leona Sharon