degree at all or even high school I
think the college education is still a
great investment in yourself there’s a
point of diminishing returns in terms of
what it’s worth for a college education
and how much debt you’re willing to save
it yourself with what’s that belief
nation it’s Evan my one word is believe
and I believe in you I believe you have
an amazing gift inside you that I want
to see exploded under the world now I
started to believe life series to try to
tackle different topics outside of just
entrepreneurship that can apply
hopefully to your life and to your
community and the people around you so
to help you live your best believe life
today we’re gonna look at do you need to
have a college degree to be successful
joy
[Music]
let’s kick things off with rule number
one learn things for yourself with Elon
Musk
there’s no need even to have a college
degree at all
we’ve been high school there the I mean
if somebody graduated from a great
university that maybe in India that may
be an indication that they will be
capable of great things but it’s not
necessarily the case you know if you
look at say people like Bill Gates for
Larry Ellison Steve Jobs these guys
didn’t graduate from college but if you
had a chance to hire them of course that
would be a good idea how did you get the
expertise to be the chief technology
officer of a rocket ship company well I
do have a physics background that’s
helpful as the foundation and then I
read a lot of books and talked to a lot
of a lot of smart people you’re
self-taught yeah well it self-taught yes
meaning I didn’t I don’t have an
aerospace degree so how did you go about
acquiring the knowledge well I like said
I had read a lot of books talked to a
lot of people and and have a great team
rule number two information is
everywhere with Warren Buffett in my
experience in business there is very
little difference if any between a very
high-priced business education and
what’s available a lot for a lot less
money so I I went to the University of
nebraska-lincoln my last year in college
I went to Wharton for a couple of years
before that I learned just as much at
university abrasca as I did at Wharton
at and there’s nothing against Wharton
um he’s just me we had a very good
school there I had some terrific
professors that at Lincoln and so I
would not assume that if I was paying a
few thousand dollars for an education
here in the state for example versus
paying huge amounts elsewhere that it
was going to make a lot of difference
most a lot of the education you need to
be prodded in the right direction but an
awful lot of a
his self the self taught them I mean
Andrew Carnegie did a wonderful thing in
this country in terms of libraries and I
used to spend a lot of time a lot I can
get locked in at the University of Alma
one what was then the University of
Omaha and they had I couldn’t get out
for hours and one night I got so
entranced with what I was reading but it
there’s there’s all kinds of information
available now with the internet it’s so
much you know easier than it was then so
it’s out there to be taken and it isn’t
necessary to pay thirty or thirty-five
thousand dollars a year to go to some
big-name school to get the education at
all I mean if you’re gonna learn
accounting if you’re gonna which is the
probably the most important course you
take in business if you’re gonna learn
to count even learn accounting
absolutely as well and my view going to
you and always going to Harvard I mean I
see I would have bet on that and so I
wouldn’t run up huge bills in terms of
getting a business education now you
know if you’re gonna get a medical
education I mean there’s certain
professions where there may not be any
way around spending a fair amount of
money and getting in debt to some degree
you’ve got to make that decision
yourself but I’d certainly try to
minimize it and and I would sort of I
would have it figured out how I would
handle that debt and say a five year
period after I got out of school or I
would think twice about incurring it
rule number three college is a good
investment in yourself with Bill Gates I
think the college education is still a
great investment in yourself it’s a time
when you can broaden your horizons spend
time with other smart curious people and
so if it’s possible to spend four years
in college I encourage everybody to do
it I think it it’s not just the economic
benefit that you have that degree it
also helps you to be a lot broader rule
number four are you willing to go into
debt with Mark Cuban if your school is
building business building buildings
but but every school is building
buildings exactly that’s my point in my
post it’s like the newspaper industry
right more printing presses more big
buildings right makes this look grander
we have brains than we’re putting them
out there there’s there’s a point of
diminishing returns in terms of what
it’s worth for a college education and
how much debt you’re willing to sell
yourself with I mean $40,000 in debt
that’s a shitload of money
I don’t want $40,000 in debt you know
it’s just I think decision points have
got to be different schools have got
more administrators making over $200,000
a year than they have profs
you know and then the people that
they’re saying are the greatest
educators that you getting you’re
getting all your money’s worth here
they’re paying fifteen hundred two
thousand five thousand dollars a class
and those people have to have other jobs
and so there’s just you and I both do
the same thing we look for industries
that are ripe for disruption because
they do things the way they’ve always
done them and I think universities
four-year universities are doing it and
it’s a real problem and rule number five
the last one before a very special bonus
clip is stay in school with Mark
Zuckerberg my question for you do you
think a bachelor’s degree with your
experience with your experience with
college in Nevada do you think a
bachelor’s degree is a necessary key to
attaining success oh I am NOT your role
model on this one yeah absolutely
look look I think it helps I loved I
loved the time that I spend in college I
wish I could have gotten more time I did
not choose to leave I just happened to
build Facebook and it kind of made me
leave but if I had the opportunity to to
learn for two more years in college M
colleges this magical time right where
you get to explore different interests
and focus on different things and meet
great people and that is not something
that I would have wanted to have given
up and if I could have magically both
done if I could have done Facebook in my
senior year I would have done that or
after I left I would have done that and
I wish I could have stayed in college
but and of course there’s no doubt I
mean there’s a lot of research that
shows that you’re having a bachelor
degree absolutely does help increase
your job potential your earnings
potential
all that so yeah I mean look I mean it’s
kind of crazy for you know I’m not
necessarily the best spokesperson for
this message but like unless there’s a
really really good reason to leave
college you really should finish college
Dom you know and even me I’m I’m going
back to college to get I’m gonna get a
degree this year
Harvard finally allowed me to come back
[Applause]
[Music]
and I have to say you know I think that
this is probably going to be the thing
that my parents are most proud of me for
so so look
yes I I’m not the right messenger but
now I’ve got a very special bonus clip
around not substituting thinking with
education with Peter Thiel a billionaire
investor I think you’re really going to
enjoy but before that I want to know
your take what do you think is college
worth it or not did you go would you go
back if you had to what are your
thoughts what would your advice be to
somebody who’s thinking about it right
now
leave it down the comments below I’m
really curious to find out thank you
guys so much for watching I believe in
you I hope we continue to believe in
yourself and whatever you’re one where
it is
much love I’ll see you soon and enjoy
I’ve never said that there’s a
one-size-fits-all approach and you know
people have characterized
mischaracterized my view is that
everyone should drop out of college
everyone should start a company I don’t
think everybody should be starting
companies you know just given this power
law thing I think a lot of companies
don’t work we need more people to start
good companies but but I think also the
sort of super tract dynamics have have
gotten us to to a very bad place where
where education has become a substitute
for thinking about the future you know
and the K through 12 system is geared
towards college and the problem is life
doesn’t end in college you know it you
know hopefully you live for a long time
after that and do many many things after
college and and and there’s a strange
way where we live in a society where
there’s a lot of anxiety about the
future and we’ve put more and more money
into education for the last 35 years as
a way of dealing with this anxiety where
if you get into the right College
you know you’ll be saved if you don’t
you’re in trouble and I sort of
described the college so dramatic
version I’ve said is you know colleges
they’re like there’s corrupt as the
Catholic Church was five hundred years
ago they’re sort of charging people more
and more it’s the system of indulgences
you have this priestly or professorial
class that doesn’t do very much work and
then and then you basically tell people
that if you get a diploma you’re saved
you know otherwise you go to hell you
know you go to Yale or you go to jail
that’s sort of that’s sort of and and
what I think we need to we need to push
back on on this on this that this is
this idea that the only way you get
saved is you know Catholic Church 500
years ago or today the only way to get
saved is by by getting a diploma from
college and I hope I hope that in the
future there will be many different
kinds of productive things for people to
do my goal with the teal fellowship was
not to start a new church the startup
Church or something like that it’s not
to have this alternate one-size-fits-all
thing but I think the future system will
be one that’s much more heterogeneous
there will be many more ways for people
to be successful yeah the most important
work ever if you had to think of one
word that’s most important to you or
that sums you Apple
that would be collect a little beacon
pay believe nation if you want to know
what the most important one word is for
Tony Robbins Gary Vaynerchuk Oprah
Winfrey will.i.am and Howard Schultz I
have a very special secret video for you
check the description for details [Music]