Why unemployment is where it is, is college to blame?

Michael Ellsberg recently posted a piece in the new york times claiming first that if you dropout of college you have a better chance to be a billionaire, second that start-ups employ the most people in the united states.

The article more implied the two statements, though I think his point was much simpler, college isnt for everyone, and reform is necessary. But he fails to back up his statements none-the-less, or even expand more on the idea.

Dont get me wrong, I think Ellsberg is fantastic, and some of his ideas about business and marketing are great, but in this case he gets it wrong.

His statement that “college is not necessary” should be “paying a lot for a good college is not necessary”. Steve jobs audited classes, essentially going to college for free, he learned typography there which helped him build the Apple I. You can learn how to program in community colleges where the cost for a class is as low as $30. Getting educated in a field is extremely important, you need to bring value to the table in order to create a start-up in the first place. There are a huge abundance of wannabe entrepreneurs out there that can only bring sales and marketing to the table, they are a dime a dozen, in fact, I personally know 4 of them.

With the availability of information on the internet, people can become an expert on pretty much anything, but for a lot of people, getting that initial exposure such that a college class can give, is enough to cascade the learning process.

Don’t get me wrong, I think colleges current curriculum is absolutely worthless. They require you to take classes that have nothing to do with what you’re passions are. I think for someone who wants to be a programmer, they should go to college and only learn stuff that has to do with programming. High school should be the time that people are able to try out tons of options and encourage creative growth (which it isn’t doing now). This should be dedicated to a whole post though.

The next part of his article that I disagree with is his thought that start-ups are the main source of jobs in america. Let me be perfectly blunt here: start-ups are the main source of jobs for at lowest High-school educated white people.

You dont see uneducated minorities riding the wave of a start-up. They are typically looking for work in other areas. The current unemployment rate for uneducated minorities is 10%, the unemployment rate for white educated individuals is only 2%!!! I’m not saying that uneducated minorities can’t create a start-up, I’m just saying that they are lacking the tools to better their chance to create and/or work for a start-up. Tools being bringing something to the table, being an expert programmer, being an expert welder, being an expert machinist, being an expert at CNC machines, the list goes on and on. Sales people are a dime a dozen, you could hire a really good salesperson for $35k + commissions, but most likely you are going to hire some of your close friends, who you know wont spend their days slacking off (I was a salesperson so I know).

This begs a deeper question, what does it take to encourage those individuals who find themselves in that unemployed category. My solution is simple, become an expert in something. Find someone who is successful at doing something, anything, work for them for free (sometimes while earning unemployment), learn everything there is to know about their business, and then start your own, or work for someone who can pay you for that expertise.