For the sake of responding to the first poster, I will share my experience with obtaining a business degree from an accredited school.
I recently completed a Finance degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and while I cannot speak for all schools in the country, I can put in a good word for this one. Cal Poly's business school is a "hands on" school whereby we study real world applications for everything we learn. So far in the real world, there are an entire host of scenarios that my college training has either prepared me for, or put me ahead of the competition. Cal Poly also offered real estate investing courses and real estate finance courses that worked towards my Finance degree, further implementing the "hands on" mantra I explained earlier. Despite all of this, the school has every resource necessary, for those who seek it, to expand your financial knowledge.
What is the benefit of all of this? Why take 4 years out of your life to complete a degree? The real question for me was -- why not? Sitting here today I am able to converse more intellectually with professionals and investors. I am also able to see things from a theoretical standpoint (classroom) as well as a practical standpoint (real world). Moreover, whether we like it or not -- and whether we care or not -- certain people will take you more seriously if they know you have a college degree. One of the things completing college says to the world (lenders, investors, your employees, etc.) is that you are able to put your mind to something and complete it, or in other words you are able to set goals and achieve them. Someone mentioned above that a lot of successful people don't have a degree, but also failed to mention that an overwhelming amount have MBA's, law degrees, master's degrees, and so on.
In conclusion, while I do not think a college degree is required to achieve financial success, I believe it is a fantastic supplement. College, for me, was full of relationship building. I have made life-long friends and learned life-long lessons about people all because of my collegiate experiences. A multi-millionaire developer once told me that the greatest aspect of your journey to financial success should be the relationships that you build. The journey should be an enjoyable part of your life, not simply a means to an end. My .02....
-Tyler
I recently completed a Finance degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and while I cannot speak for all schools in the country, I can put in a good word for this one. Cal Poly's business school is a "hands on" school whereby we study real world applications for everything we learn. So far in the real world, there are an entire host of scenarios that my college training has either prepared me for, or put me ahead of the competition. Cal Poly also offered real estate investing courses and real estate finance courses that worked towards my Finance degree, further implementing the "hands on" mantra I explained earlier. Despite all of this, the school has every resource necessary, for those who seek it, to expand your financial knowledge.
What is the benefit of all of this? Why take 4 years out of your life to complete a degree? The real question for me was -- why not? Sitting here today I am able to converse more intellectually with professionals and investors. I am also able to see things from a theoretical standpoint (classroom) as well as a practical standpoint (real world). Moreover, whether we like it or not -- and whether we care or not -- certain people will take you more seriously if they know you have a college degree. One of the things completing college says to the world (lenders, investors, your employees, etc.) is that you are able to put your mind to something and complete it, or in other words you are able to set goals and achieve them. Someone mentioned above that a lot of successful people don't have a degree, but also failed to mention that an overwhelming amount have MBA's, law degrees, master's degrees, and so on.
In conclusion, while I do not think a college degree is required to achieve financial success, I believe it is a fantastic supplement. College, for me, was full of relationship building. I have made life-long friends and learned life-long lessons about people all because of my collegiate experiences. A multi-millionaire developer once told me that the greatest aspect of your journey to financial success should be the relationships that you build. The journey should be an enjoyable part of your life, not simply a means to an end. My .02....
-Tyler