Is college a scam?

I definitely don't think college is for everyone and hate the mentality so many try to push onto high school/college age kids that it's a necessity in order to make it in the world and that there's no hope for them if they don't go to college. That's simply not true.

I mean, if you're looking specifically to become a teacher, doctor, lawyer, etc., obviously college is the way to go. But, I think it's a horrible idea to tell kids they need to enroll in college when they have no clue what field they want to go into, or to get something useless like a liberal arts or gender studies degree. And you're correct that a degree does not guarantee a great job and that there are people with fancy degrees working very average jobs. I actually know several people who don't even use their degrees.

I was in college for a grand total of one semester before deciding it absolutely wasn't for me and changing my mind about wanting to become a teacher. Also, my college was way too focused on political indoctrination to actually teach me anything useful that I didn't already know and pass in high school, or anything I'd actually need for my degree. Not to mention that I had to sit through a horrible sales pitch from a woman trying to get us to sign up for student loans, who basically told us her life story of how she was a failure because she didn't get student loans and stay in college, and how if we didn't, we'd be just like her, in an unhappy marriage with the wrong person and with two 30-year-olds still living in our basements mooching off of us. It was very hard to take college seriously and not as a scam after that.

Anyway, I'm better off than I ever would've been if I had stayed in college, and much happier as well.

Pharmacists only make $80k a year in the US? Wow, that sucks. They should emigrate to UK or Australia

Unfortunately; The value of a college education has been devalued and in many cases a person would now be better off most likely with some kind of technical or specialty training; or just starting their own business.

40 years ago it was different. Then most people did not automatically go to college. Educating many more people at the college level did not create more jobs that actually needed a college degree. Thus, in most cases there is a surplus of college educated for most fields, and the wages are thus depressed. At the same time I have heard many people saying that they went in debt $80,000 - $100,000 for their college degree. That's a crushing debt burden for many with all the other life expenses at this time.

that feller aint a tradesman hes a businessman and salesman

I have a degree in graphic design, but really you only need a diploma and a good portfolio to get hired. How it benefitted me was the structured learning environment and valuable insights from our lecturers' critiques.

Now some other dude with just a portfolio may make more money than me with less education, but that experience was valuable to me and worth paying for.