I finally graduated in 2006, after dropping out for several years then going back.
I tend to agree that college (in the US at least) does not provide you with immediately-useful skills for your first professional job. The work I did was pretty far removed from courses in assembly, prolog/lisp, computer architecture, physics, calculus, world history, english literature, etc. What I really needed to know when I graduated was the company's chosen UI framework, how to organize code, how to write readable code, how to interact professionally with peers and management and customers, etc. College did not really prepare me for any of that. I think group projects are supposed to help with professional interaction, but what they actually teach you is: never trust anyone.
However, as time has gone on I have had occasion to come back to some of those things that I was exposed to at college. I've had to dig into computer architecture to understand multi-threading designs. I've also come back to languages like lisp for examples of how to break down problems into just data which I can process. And in general, looking at problems from the perspective of other disciplines (biology, physics, history, etc.) has help me discover solutions. I guess my point here is that things I learned from a "well-rounded" college education have had long-term value for me. Albeit quite lacking in immediate value. (In fact I hated it at the time for that reason.) And there are some longer-term things I wish it had covered better, such as code quality. But in all, I count it as a worthwhile investment. Although if I had to pay $80k for college, then I might change my mind.
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I finally graduated in 2006, after dropping out for several years then going back.
I tend to agree that college (in the US at least) does not provide you with immediately-useful skills for your first professional job. The work I did was pretty far removed from courses in assembly, prolog/lisp, computer architecture, physics, calculus, world history, english literature, etc. What I really needed to know when I graduated was the company's chosen UI framework, how to organize code, how to write readable code, how to interact professionally with peers and management and customers, etc. College did not really prepare me for any of that. I think group projects are supposed to help with professional interaction, but what they actually teach you is: never trust anyone.
However, as time has gone on I have had occasion to come back to some of those things that I was exposed to at college. I've had to dig into computer architecture to understand multi-threading designs. I've also come back to languages like lisp for examples of how to break down problems into just data which I can process. And in general, looking at problems from the perspective of other disciplines (biology, physics, history, etc.) has help me discover solutions. I guess my point here is that things I learned from a "well-rounded" college education have had long-term value for me. Albeit quite lacking in immediate value. (In fact I hated it at the time for that reason.) And there are some longer-term things I wish it had covered better, such as code quality. But in all, I count it as a worthwhile investment. Although if I had to pay $80k for college, then I might change my mind.