With the increasing cost of college tuition, student loan debt, job scarcity, and opportunities for entrepreneurship online, is it any wonder that grads are wondering: “was getting my degree worthwhile?”
大学费用一直涨价、学生贷款负担重、工作难找，还有电商的创业机遇，所以毕业生们犯嘀咕了：“弄这个文凭到底有没有用？”——这样想一点都不奇怪。
Well, that’s up to you do to decide.
嗯，这得看你自己了。
5 Reasons Why Your Bachelor’s Degree Is Worthless
1） 学位泛滥
In 1970, only 26% of middle-class workers had education beyond high school. Today, almost 60% of all jobs in the USrequire a higher education. Your new bachelor’s degree is becoming increasingly worthless as more and more people graduate from college, as jobs that used to need only a bachelor’s degree now prefer master’s degrees.
上世纪70年代，中产阶级从业人员中，高中以上学历的只有26%。现在，美国将近60%的工作岗位要求有大学文凭。大学毕业生越多，你刚到手的学士文凭也就越不值钱，因为以前那些只要求学士的工作，现在更乐意招硕士了。
If the excess of bachelor’s degrees wasn’t enough, now we have an increase in master’s degree students who have decided to stay in school to wait out the recession: not only have you gone to school to earn a commodity, it’s now a sub-standard commodity.
如果本科毕业生过多的状况还不够糟的话，呵呵，那么，看看现在越来越多的硕士决定继续待在学校里，等着经济衰退期过去：上大学是购买教育产品，如今，这是一个不合格的产品。
It’s only a matter of time until you’ll need a bachelor’s degree and a certification to mow lawns—there go all the summer jobs for kids.
等着吧，很快就会看到，以后就算修剪草坪也需要学士学位，外加上岗资格证——给孩子们提供的暑期工职位，全都消失了。
2.) The Illusion of Safety
2)安稳的错觉
What used to be a guarantee of safety and stability has recently turned into an exercise in musical chairs. There aren’t enough jobs for everyone, and you find yourself scrambling to not be the odd man out.
以前，读大学是安稳的保障，如今变成抢凳子的游戏了。工作岗位不足，为了能捧上一个饭碗，于是大家发现自己变得紧张兮兮地四处奔波。
According to a CNN article, less than half of college graduates under the age of 25 are working at a job that requires a college degree. The same article mentions a 2012 study from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce titled “Hard Times: Not All College Majors are Created Equal, ” showing that bachelor degree grads have an unemployment rate of 8.9%.
根据CNN的报导，目前，25岁以下的大学毕业生从事的就业岗位，都不需要大学文凭。文章还提到了乔治敦大学教育和人力研究中心的一份报告《艰难时刻：各专业就业前景各不相同》，里面的一项数据表明本科毕业生的失业率是8.9%。
3.) Drowning in Debt
3） 负债累累
On average, the cost for one year of attendance at four-year public college or university costs 40% of a family’s income, and on average, approximately 40% of students leave school with a debt of $22, 000. If you’re from a family that earns between $40k and $50k, that number jumps to $28, 000.
平均来讲，四年制公立大学的费用，相当于全职职工一年的收入，或者说，大学费用占了家庭收入的40%；而且，另一组平均数，大概40%的学生毕业时的负债是2.2万美元。如果你家里人的年收入在4万美元到5万美元之间，那么这个数字要上升到2.8万美元。
Middle-class families will have more debt from student loans than their upper-class peers, who can pay for their education outright, and their lower class peers, who often qualify for grants and financial assistance. You might even end up being the one paying $1, 000 amonth for 20 years just for four years of school.
至于学生贷款，中产阶级家庭的债务负担要高于上层社会和较低阶层，因为上层社会的家庭不用贷款，而较低阶层的家庭可以获得补助和津贴。所以，有人面对的前景就是：为了四年的大学，得花上20年还债，每个1000块。
4.) The Source of Creativity
4）创新之源
People seem to think that the simple act of attending college makes you more innovative and creative. That’s simply not true.
好象人们想当然地认为：只要上了大学，就能让你充满创新精神。真是大错特错。
Creativity and innovation don’t come from what people teach you: new ideas come from your personal experiences, and your interaction with your environment.
别人无法教会你创造和创新：新的理念来自个人经历，以及你和周围环境的互动。
5.) Your Professors Aren’t Concerned About Your Education
5）教授们才不管你受了多少教育
I know people who graduated with a degree in engineering who couldn’t do a derivative. I’m not joking.
我有一个熟人，手里握有工程方面的学位，但是连导数都不懂。我可没说笑。
Many professors are far more interested in tenure and their research than they are about making sure you get the best education they can possible give you. They grade you on curves so you can’t possibly fail, and the curriculum never changes. In fact, one study showed that 45% of students are no better at critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing after their sophomore year than they were when they began.
很多教授更关心自己的职位和研究项目，而不是保证尽力地培养你。他们网开一面，你就不会不及格，就能毕业了，还有课程内容千年不变。实际上，有一项研究表明：在批判性思考、复杂推理和写作方面，45%的大学三四年级学生的水平，比他们刚入学的时候，一点都没有提高。
1.) You’ll Be Better Off With One Than Without One
1）有比没有强
Although getting a degree isn’t the golden ticket to success anymore, it’s still a rite of passage in America. If you do need to get a job, having a degree can only help you—not only will you have more options to choose from, but you’ll also get paid more. It’s estimated that a degree is worth $1.3 million in additional lifetime earnings.
尽管学位不再保证能功成名就，但在美国，这依然是敲门砖。如果想找到一份工作，有学位肯定能加分——不只是增加就业的概率，而且薪水也更高。估算一下，要是有学位，一辈子能多挣130万美元。
2.) Head-Fake Learning
2）学会抓住重点
College is about more than book-learning: it also teaches you how to think. It’s about learning how to become a leader and how to make impossible deadlines work on 3 hours of sleep.
大学不止是读书的地方：它还教会你思考方法。学会成为一个领导者，以及只睡3小时，完成一些几乎不可能的任务。
If you take advantage of everything higher education has to offer, it’s an opportunity to learn how to initiate change, negotiate and experiment in life without any dire consequences.
如果好好利用高等教育提供的一切，那么，这就是一个契机，开始改变生活，与众人交往，以及尝试生活的方方面面，并且这个契机毫无任何副作用。
3.) Experience
3）体验
Going to college really is a once-in-a lifetime experience: living in a dorm room, having all-night study sessions…it’s not something that you can put off. Education you can get at any time, but this experience you can really only get once. Once you’re older, you mature too much to take the kinds of risks that are taken in college.
人的一生真的只能体验一次上大学的感觉：住在宿舍里，挑灯夜读……这些事情都让人无法忘怀。接受教育，随时可以；但是这样的体验，一生真的只有一次。以后，年纪渐长，人太成熟了，大学里的各种冒险活动，你就不会再去做了。
You fundamentally change as a person during the course of those four years. Anyone who’s gone to college and has friends who haven’t know what it’s like to go back home and realize that their old friends are exactly the same as they were four years ago. I’m not saying that people who haven’t changed are somehow worse off in life, I’m saying that if you want to experience that kind of world-view change, college is the best place to do it.
四年时间，你会完全脱胎换骨。任何上了大学的人，都知道这种状况；因为他们都有一些没上大学的老朋友，回家的时候，发现老朋友还是和四年前一样。我并没有说生活一成不变的人，就是失败者；我的意思是，如果你想体验那种改变世界观的经历，大学是最佳选择。
4.) Intellectual Stimulation
4）刺激智力发展
It’s not until after college that you realize how mentally stimulated you were every single day. You were learning new concepts from half a dozen different subjects every single day; you could pick what you wanted to learn about next semester using electives, and at any given point, you could meet someone on campus who could completely alter your world-view with a single conversation.
离开校园后，你才会意识到自己的心智每天都遭到冲击。每天，从十几门课程中，你学习新的概念；你可以选修下学期想念的课程，而且，还有可能，在校园里遇见某个人，一席谈话，能完全改变你的世界观。
5.) It’s Really Fun
5）真的很有意思
You have your entire life in which to work: even if you end up being self-employed, work is never going to be as carefree as college was.
以后的生活里，人都得一直工作；就算给自己打工，也得记挂着工作，象大学里那般轻松自在，绝对不可能。
A college degree doesn’t guarantee security, just as not having a college degree doesn’t guarantee failure. When making the decision whether to attend or not, check the facts as they pertain to your individual situation. If you do go to college, it should be for more than just getting a good job and making money; that may not happen for you. It should be for the experience, intellectual stimulation, and all the things you learn in tandem with your classes. Don’t depend on a company to save you—save yourself by getting the most out of your four years at school.
大学文凭不保障安稳；就象没念大学，未必就是失败。是否读大学，要看自己的实际情况。如果要去读大学，那么，就别满脑子想着是为了找一份好工作，然后赚钱；实际情况，可能并不如此。应该为了体验、发展智力，还有你和同学们共处时，学到的点点滴滴。别指望公司会搭救你——好好榨取你的学校，最大限度地利用四年大学，自己救自己吧！
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