I was eleven when I saw this ad, and I remembered it vividly seven years later, when my guidance counselor told me I’d be screwed without a four-year degree.

“President Lincoln didn’t need one,” I said, “why do I?”

Mr. Dunbar looked at me like I was an idiot.

“Don’t be an idiot,” he said. “Times have changed. Employers won’t give you a second look without a degree. You want to turn a wrench the rest of your life?”

Truth is, he was right. In 1980, there was a bright line through the workforce – a line that separated those who went to college from those who didn’t. I guess that line was there long before that, but the value judgments were not. So, I went to a community college for two years, which turned out to be a great decision, and then, a state school where I got a BS in communications. (How perfect is that?)

Did that degree get me a job? No, it didn’t, but exposure to the liberal arts served me very well, and back in 1984, the cost was manageable. Not so much today.
I’m often accused of some kind of hypocrisy, because my foundation doesn’t offer scholarships to four-year schools, while I have a degree from one. I can live with that. Like Mr. Dunbar said, “times have changed.”

Today, there is nothing inherently good or bad about a four-year degree, but two things are indisputably true. They are far too expensive for most people, and you absolutely positively do not need one to prosper. If you’re skeptical, I can show you 3,500 examples.

Apply today for a work ethic scholarship at mikeroweWORKS.org.

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