There are some serious flaws with this argument! First of all, who has $104,000 to invest in a 50 year annuity when they are 18 years old? He's right, if you have that kind of money before going to college, you probably don't need to go to college because you obviously have some other wonderful way of earning money (or it's just been handed to you). Second, assuming you actually have the cash lying around, almost all the figures he is using are off. An investment of $104,000 earning 5% compounded annually will be worth $1,192,609.58 in 50 years ($104,000 X 1.05^50), not $1.4 million. However, this is a moot point, because who wants to retire at age 68 (assuming you are 18 upon graduation from high school plus the 50 year annuity)? The more practical number to use would be 47, allowing you to retire at age 65. These 3 years shave off $162,388.59 from the investment bringing it to $1,030,220.99 ($104,000 X 1.05^47). In terms of how much more college students earn compared to those people without a degree, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau reports, studies show that workers with a high school degree earned an average of $31,286 in 2007, while those with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $57,181. That is $25,895 more. When multiplied times 43 (number of working years after college until age 65 assuming you graduate college at age 22) the difference comes out to be $1,113,485. Look at that, the numbers work out in favor of college graduates who would earn about $83,264.01 more over their working years.

Of course, this assumes that his original calculation of $104,000 for the degree is accurate, which it is not. He includes $10,000 of living costs in his calculation. However, whether you go to college or not, these costs are going to be incurred (you have to live, right?). Whether you pay the college for room and board, or you pay the landlord and the grocery store, you are still going to have living expenses. This thrusts the argument for a college degree way ahead of not having one. In addition, getting a cheaper degree, for instance from a state school where tuition may only be about $10,000 per year, further advances the argument. Many people are also able to reduce the cost of attending college through scholarships.

Another thing he is not considering is the fact that many jobs are not even available to people who do not have an undergraduate degree. Using the above figures for workers with a high school degree, you would have to find a job that pays about $15/hour. Most jobs that pay this rate that are available to high school graduates are labor intensive (electrician, plumber, carpenter, etc.) Many people would rather work with their heads than their hands, or get into positions that have a higher impact on the world. Moreover, as other people have pointed out, college is a learning institution. You come out the other end with a better idea of how the world works. You are hopefully a more intelligent, well-rounded person, allowing you to make better decisions in life and speak intelligently about relevant current issues. College is most definitely a feasible, logical option for high school graduates. DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS GUY!

Here is the question people who believe this guy need to ask their parents. Hey mom and dad can I have $104,000 to put into a bank account while I work my way up to a mid level job in retail?

To those who ask what kind of father he is, here's a hint: He's a father who "holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell and was a doctoral candidate at Carnegie Mellon University." He is a father who is "the managing director of Formula Capital, an asset management firm and fund of hedge funds," who has "written four books on investing: Trade Like a Hedge Fund, Trade Like Warren Buffett, SuperCash, and The Forever Portfolio and is currently at work on a fifth, tentatively titled, 25 Ways the World Could Be Destroyed And How to Profit from It." He is a father who "currently writes for The Wall Street Journal and AOL Finance." He is, in perhaps the simplest terms, a father who relies on his college degree to enable himself to be listened to, telling the rest of us why a college degree is unnecessary. If nobody else sees the sad humor in that, here is his response to a comment on the original article when someone confronted the fact that he himself benefited from a college degree ... "Well, its because I went to college I realize what it waste it was. I've never used anything I learned on those campuses. And in terms of the public loans - that's my point. Its just too expensive for kids to go to school these days (incidentally, by the time I was no longer in school I had $40k in debt which took years to pay off). And yes, businesses have a high failure rate. That's the point: learn from the school of real life while you're still young enough to really benefit from it. Get a head start."

Ok...so this dude is definatley screwed up.

this is ridiculous college is a fantastic oppurtunity for students to meet new people, engage in things that they haven't been exposed to before, study abroad, etc. etc. a price tag should be the least of all reasons for why students should forgo college. College does not have to be seen as a required stepping stone for a victorious career, however it should certainly be seen as an experience of a lifetime. An example of how monetary setbacks are baloney is that of a professor currently teaching at Temple Univ. He was the first in his family to attend college, infact his family completely discouraged him from going for the same reasons told above in this article, however he persisted and - as poor of a man he is, he cleaned bathrooms for a living all through his higher education, he graduated with a ph.d with $484 in debt. This only goes to show that - although one need not clean bathrooms to go to college - anyone can attend as long as they have the conviction. I personally think it is an investment of a lifetime that should not be thrown aside - especially if one is given the oppurtunity to attend.

I work at Burger King. A college education won't save you from flipping burgers now; some college students become managers at fast food stores. Now I'm pretty sure you can become a manager without going to college but it probably happens that the people who make good managers are people who have also gone to college. I could argue a modified position and say that perhaps a college education gives you a means for success, but it does not ensure success. It's what you do with your education that counts. If you go to college and know what degree you'll earn and what you'll do with it (chemical engineering, in my case, which you CANNOT DO without a college education), you can probably make a good return on your investment. If you go to college undecided, just to "find yourself," you might not see that return. So if you're going to use your degree, earn one; if not, don't.

This dad is pretty ignorant if he truly believes this. It doesn't matter if you go for a BS in XYZ or a BA in DEF, the point is to open your horizons and to connect with others. If you do what you love then the money will be in second place from anything else. I dont know about you but I could NEVER love to flip burgers. I'm headed to med school!