There is also the unmotivated group – yeah, why waste your money and time. Go get an job.

However, I still think the grand portion of people should aspire to go to college, even though college was an absolute waste of time and money for me.

Despite my ability to escape the land of degree-driven, 9-5 jobs, this required a few steps along the way for me. Without a degree, those steps would have been much more difficult.
entrepreneurial endeavors that allow one to escape the societal bias for having a degree require a drive and ability to communicate and persevere far beyond most people’s willingness to extend themselves.
Most white collar jobs require a degree, whether the snobbery is justified or not
Most people honestly just want to earn a good living and/or don’t want to be the boss and the thought of starting a company makes their stomach turn.
Eventually every job market like technology matures and most jobs will start requiring degrees except for those individuals who can clearly differentiate their unique value to the person hiring them for a project or permanent job
People need to learn that profit margins don’t mean diddly squat unless you are comparing investments. I go round and round with clients who ignore opportunities based on something someone stuck in their head about ROI when (A) they have no backup and (B) they ignore overall profits which is the true measure of if I get into a business. If I have record profits, margins are only valuable for improving or for comparison.
hopefully in college they’ll learn to differentiate between “their” and “there” ;)

Good post, though – appreciate anyone working to stem college degree snobbery! :)

The real problem is society wastes money on the bottom half because everyone must be given a chance, even those with little academic ability.

Many eduators are trying but as long a the public doesn’t want to hear it, little will change.

If by “lacking skills” the professor is referring to basic skills that one should have before entering college, that sounds like an indictment of High Schools. I’ve also read articles pointing out how unprepared students are when they enter college.