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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Remember.. the primary purpose of going to college is to get a job whose primary purpose is to provide income. [/quote]

Yeah, no.

The primary purpose of going to college is to get educated.  Education, in and of itself, has inherent value.

Jobs, greater income, etc, come because you are educated *and* that you want those things and work for them.  Everyone knows both rich people who did not attend college and poor people who did.

If kid does not want to be educated and wants to pursue his passion for now, college will be there if and when he is ready.  [b]There will always be jobs for people with technical skills but for many tech jobs a CS degree or similar gives you background in things you can't learn didactically.[/b][/quote]

That's just not true for programmers. [b]It's a lot closer to a trade that a traditional professional career in a lot of way- skill not a degree is the barrier to entry, and if you lack the skill a degree can paper that over. A degree is great, but demonstrated work product will get him farther. Is he contributing to GitHub- if not he should be if he has the skill to do so, I'd hire code monkey based on their profile long before I'd care about a degree[/b][/quote]

New poster.

I do agree that forcing a kid to go to college in the circumstances OP describes is NOT wise.

But OP, what's the plan if he won't go to college?

Will he...keep liviing with you, his parents? Does he have full control over the really very big amount of money he's made (and if he's 18, he's legally an adult, so it's his, but...legal adulthood does not mean he is mature enough to invest some, save some, not blow it, etc.). Are you concerned that he's going to waste this money, and if so, is there someone you and he would both trust to advise him financially if he doesn't listen to you about finances? If he suddenly says, I'm legally an adult and I'm moving out, you can't stop him, so what's his plan? Is there any plan?

I want to add, too, regarding the bold in the post above: While that's all true to a point, I know at least two "code monkeys" who now are in their 40s and neither is ever going to get past a certain level of income or responsibiliity professionally because they lack degrees. One has no college degree at all and the other has a degree in a field that isn't at all computer related. Both have tons of programming experience and are apparently very good at it but they have hit the ceiling as far as employment advancement goes. Their employers don't make full-time employees of people who don't have at least some form of relevant degree. Is that right? Maybe not but it's still the case in larger corporations. I know the PP above is, as I said, correct--for certain types of employers. But others will not advance someone who simply has no degree at all, becuase their hiring rules say you need a minimum degree to be promoted after a certain point, even if you're a great programmer. It's maybe not fair but  it's still true in a lot of places. Maybe your son will never work for a company iin the old-school employment way where he has a job and advances up a ladder of pay and positions, and that is FINE, but you need just to be aware that that's not necessarily a path for him. He might found his own start-up when the economy eventually improves or  join a smaller company, etc. Just understand that the path you might visualize for a career may not be open to him though he may have a different path.
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