University is a SCAM

We all know university is a scam for most people. The amount of people who actually pay off their debt in their lives is less than half currently. However, even for people who do get the ROI, the entire concept of college is still a complete scam.

I go to one of the best universities in the country, studying a hard science and have had internships across high finance and am now working in technology. 

I can comfortably say not a single thing learned in my degree has been helpful across any of these experiences other than being a stamp check. The skills I learned from a sales job and going out have vastly trumped any form of academic qualification I have gotten. All technical learnings have been self-taught, some of which better than my courses in college.

Why are degrees still needed for these roles? For any role outside of academia/engineering/medicine that is taught upon entry (i.e. the majority of corporate roles), I would much rather hire someone from the military, a sales role or just someone who has a reasonably high IQ.

Why do institutions still require the stamp of higher education? Also FYI the stamp is further invalidated with GenAI - half my friends are literal apes but have still done well academically using Claude to do their entire degree.

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