Yes, college teaches you critical thinking

@PepsiColaP Well said. It seems to be the trend to advocate against, sadly.

In my own experience, for a long time I have been through trying job search without a degree (or even just a community college one) and 100% of the time companies requested a Bachelors minimum, so I went for it and got my Bachelors after. Without it, people had no respect for me. With it, I get invited for interviews. The depressing part - as we all know - is that the market got even more academically saturated and the bar got raised even higher; what used to be 2 years experience required is now 5 years minimum, skills bring optional are now mandatory; it's a mess.

Definitely, the invaluable skills garnered and matured in college increased the quality of my life ten-fold.

Aside from all that, yeah, Bill wants control. lol

@Existentior the job market is definitely more competitive ,not just because more adults entering are now more academically qualified than say 10-20-30 years ago, but by numbers alone there's more of us competing now than 10-20-30 yrs ago ,which is however due to decrease with decreasing fertility and birth rates . Still,statistically college graduates are more likely to secure skilled jobs/higher paying jobs.
However like you say in your post education it is not just about employment but the skills you develop for yourself and that reflects in society ,and especially politics.

@PepsiColaP That's right, as a seasoned tech person myself I'm competing against certain groups of tech people who went above and beyond; they have side projects, top grades and recommendations. I've noticed that people in my field are burning out quickly due to this constant high pressure to outperform each other and stay up to date with the tech craze that's going at insane speeds; at some point a person wants to have their own life and hobbies and have some balance.

Hm, decreasing fertility? I didn't know about that one, but I think it makes sense.

Yes, the tech job market has gone crazy. I have a Bachelors. Oh, not enough apparently? They prefer Masters now. What's next? Doctorates? It's getting close... lol. I'm already a high-performing guy, but now that's becoming more and more the norm. The fact that these college graduates are more likely to secure these skilled/higher paying jobs is out there indeed, with companies eager to save a quick dollar by hiring their technical prowess through an internship, underpaying them once they're in the role... it's a disgrace. Next to that, I've seen people with community college degrees get depressed because no one would hire them, as companies always asked for Bachelors minimum. Sometimes they get lucky with connections, but still. People think little side projects and motivation alone is enough... and I've experienced it not being the case, which is a hard pill to swallow. You can have all the motivation you want, but real life is not Disney and no one will care. Indeed...

Yes indeed, the multidisciplinary skills reflect on the quality of our system. Easy examples are conflict avoidance through correct communication, multidisciplinary meetings through cross-cutting insights, more autonomy, etc.

@DeluxedEdition A few factors pointed out how the college I went to was heavily based on critical thinking:

1) It was listed as a competency in your diploma (skill list) that adheres to a certain educational framework

2) Our exams would all be based on open, critical-thinking questions that could not be answered through multiple choice, but only through deep critical thought of the entire subject matter and we were required to relate it to other subject matters as well and other fields in order to get a passing grade. Our professor emphasized to us that mere conceptualization was not enough - you had to be able to absorb the material and form informed insights on it based on analytical ecosystems you built from conceptualizing it. The professor then would ask your critical input (both written and vocal) of several questions and if he saw that you couldn't fully connect the dots or master what you were talking about through deep thought, you would not get a passing grade. He would ask deeply through every statement you made. That was for me the hardest time I ever had in college.

3) Various theses were required of us throughout the year, about which we would be questioned on in front of a live audience of industry experts, who would try to check if you really knew what you were talking about. Then you also had to defend to them and to your professors why you thought you answer was a certain way. When you were able to convince people of your line of thinking, then you would have a sufficient grade. You also had to be able to defend your thinking from people who criticized it.

4) Throughout all the courses, from Sociology to Mathematics, it would be a factor. We had to do very deep political and philosophical debates with professors and colleagues alike. I've spent some very hard thinking there. We had to be able to understand, draw facts and critically analyze various ideologies, see where they manifested themselves through history and then convey in our paper the reasons behind our choices and how we saw these.

In summary, there were plenty of ways they tested our critical thought.

@Existentior Sounds amazing. What school was this?

@SomeMichGuy Oh yea. I see how that happened then. Once in you can't get out be cause you will be enter hell. So don't analyze that.

@Patriot96 Thankfully good colleges reinforce it.