On College and the IT Field
I needed to go to college to be successful. I required the disciplined studying, mentoring from my professors, social learning through meeting new friends, and enriching experiences from the general community at James Madison University. Even though I’ve been using computers since I was 3 years old and programming since sixth grade, I needed classes on operating systems, programming languages, computer networking, and information security to be successful in my career.
So I watch with some dismay as influential figures rail against the college model. I agree with a lot of the things Peter Thiel discusses. It’s important to provide an alternative development model for insanely smart people. Some people don’t need college because they already have all of the drive and intelligence to get started now. College simply slows those insanely smart people down!
But I’m not that smart. I simply was not ready to be a full-time member of the real world until I spent countless hours studying in the library and in front of a computer learning computer science.
I don’t think I’m unusual. Sure, in information technology I would hire a better software developer with a high school degree over a developer with a college degree any day. But I rarely see that. While it’s possible in theory to be successful without a college degree in information technology, completing a computer science degree at a good college is a strong signaling mechanism. The degree is neither necessary nor sufficient, but it provides a starting point for discussions about background in software development.
Side projects, technical blogging, past experience, open source contributions, enthusiasm, and dedication to constant learning should make or break decisions on whether or not to hire a software developers. But often those topics are so heavily influenced by learning from college in programming language theory, algorithms, and software engineering practices, it’s hard to pull them apart.
There are many issues with the college model besides holding back really smart people: extraordinary costs, massive student loans, majors of questionable value, and grade inflation. But in IT, while in theory you can be successful without a college degree, it’s a strong signaling mechanism that you can’t set your mind to finishing a major commitment to learning and education.
