Elon Musk, Exceptional Ability, and The Cold Realties of College Education
If you go to YouTube and type the phrase’ is college necessary,' you'll get many videos by professional YouTubers explaining why becoming a professional YouTuber instead of going to college was an awesome choice. The second most common videos are interviews featuring quotes from Elon Musk. Here are some of those video titles:
Ø You Don't Need College
Ø Elon Musk Attacks The education system
Ø College Is Useless.
Elon Musk stated that he doesn’t give a damn about your degree. But there's something fishy about these anti-college and anti-degree videos – all these videos with Elon as their mascot reference the same interview. It was an interview he did for the Satellite Industry Convention back in 2020. During the Q&A portion, a student pointed out that Elon doesn't seem to think college would be necessary for employment. Yet several of his SpaceX jobs require a bachelor's or master's degree. Here's his whole answer in context:
“First of all, you don't need college to learn stuff. Everything is available basically for free. You can learn anything you want for free. It's not a question of learning. There is a value that colleges have which is proving somebody can work hard on something, including a bunch of annoying homework, assignments, and kind of soldier through and get it done? That's the main value of college. And then also, you probably want to hang around with people your own age for a while instead of going right into the workforce. So, I think colleges are basically for fun and proving you can do your chores, but they are not for learning.”
The last part on how colleges are for fun, but they're not for learning, is the interview section everyone seems to latch onto. That particular quote appears in every anti-college video, tweet, and article, but there was a lot leading up to it. During the interview, Elon points out that college is good for proving you can “work hard” and shoulder through. Later in the interview, he names a bunch of people who dropped out to become hugely successful without a degree, like Steve Jobs. He tells the crowd that SpaceX and Tesla aren't looking to hire someone because they have a degree. Elon says they're looking to hire people who have shown evidence of exceptional ability.
That's what we're going to do today - right now. We will demonstrate evidence of exceptional ability without a master's degree so we can work on rockets alongside actual rocket scientists. And at the end of the show, we'll apply to SpaceX for a job. So, how the hell do we demonstrate exceptional ability, Elon?
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If you've listened before, you know our show has a bit of a theme. We look at the science and statistics to discover how we can improve ourselves. Then, we find ways to apply it. Well, the numbers are pretty clear. Data from the Bureau of Labor and other statistics show that the higher education goes, the more money you earn on average. Overall, the average weekly medium salary is around $1,800 for a Ph.D., $1,500 for an MA, $1,200 for a BA/BS, and $850 for an AA/AS. Those with just a high school diploma get about $600. On the surface, it may sound straightforward, but what if we don't have a degree? What if we're on educated scrubs and we still want to take Elon Musk up on his offer? We have the initiative, the drive, and what Elon calls exceptional ability. We want to see if we can beat the odds within a system built for the college-educated. How likely is it that we could slip through the cracks upward into money? Well, we have three myths to bust to get us there.
Myth 1: How likely does having a degree guarantee a future job involving your major? Heck, does having a degree even guarantee employment anymore at all? If not, what is a degree actually good for?
Todd: Okay, I've never asked this and have known you for a long time. You're a smart guy. Do you have a college degree?
Joe: There is a little box that people check when they apply for a job where it says "some college" but no degree. Because we are an educational podcast, you would think that I had a degree of some sort with the kind of research we do. But at the end of the show, when we say that we're not experts on anything, but we've got an opinion on everything, we really do mean that.
Todd: So, how much reading, researching, and writing have you done? If you were to compare yourself to a college student who's a journalist?
Joe: I got into this discussion a couple of weeks ago. I found out that each episode is basically 2-3 college papers because we cover so many studies. And on top of that, I have actually taken BYU classes and masterclasses, etc. So generally speaking, I'm going to go with a cheaper/stock answer – you don't stop. Whether you have a degree or not, you should never stop your education and keep pushing into what interests you and what makes you curious.
If we're just talking about what a degree looks like, a newly minted college student who has just walked out with his degree, will they show enough exceptional ability to get a job at SpaceX? Are they going to show as much grit and determination? Furthermore, we really are going to apply to get jobs at SpaceX by the end of this episode.
It’s not uncommon to know people who have Bachelor's and Master's degrees who make great incomes. It is also not uncommon to see that with people who have careers not connected to their actual degree at all. Even more, the student debt that it causes regardless of the career choice alignment or not just may do psychological damage over time. Now, it doesn’t always happen, but if you work laboriously right after high school, there is a possibility that it can lead to a supervisor role over time. And that's when we hear about slipping through the cracks upward into money. If you are a very motivated laborer and you come out of high school, you can end up making more money than somebody with a ton of student debt and a doctoral degree.
Like we said prior, a doctoral degree can roughly earn you $1,800 a week, and a high school diploma is around $600. However, the high school diploma person does not have student debt that they have to pay back for years upon years that take away from their net gains. For some more stats, we want to start with employment rates. An Economist article listed that unemployment rates among degree holders were high. The unemployment rate of recent graduates between 2016-2020 is about 7.2%. Those are college graduates who are unemployed in the US. For reference, the unemployment rate in general for the US. is 6%. The unemployment rate for recent graduates is slightly higher than the average unemployment rate.
Many places require a degree even if they're paying off a student debtor or if they're not working in their field. A study from the Federal Reserve Bank in New York found that 27% of college graduates actually work in a field related to their major. If you majored in politics, two/thirds are working in something completely unrelated. So, everyone who's in the calculus class is not going to be a scientist. In short, whatever your major is probably not where you will end up. Your degree will act more like a metal pin on your chest at an interview, though it doesn’t mean you get that job specifically. The degree itself doesn’t mean anything other than you've proven that you could work.
There is a quote from Investopedia that sums up what we're saying: “If you’re a recent graduate, your new degree may serve as evidence that you've acquired the skills necessary for an entry-level job. In your chosen field, prospective employers are likely to see you as someone who can get up to speed quickly, requiring little on-the-job training, which costs employers time and money.”
Other sources refer to these as soft skills. The college graduates who can do this work can adapt quickly and grasp onto what they're supposed to do. Those are soft skills in the workforce, which is funny because college is supposed to teach hard skills. In theory, if you major in underwater basket weaving, you will be an underwater basket weaver. What it does is prove that you can talk well to other basket weavers and you can turn in your basket at the end of the day. That is still important because every industry has its own language like that.
Myth 2: If you're clever, well-spoken, and street smart, you don't need a degree, right? You'll just talk your way into the job. Except, what happens now that online resumes are the first hurdle and yours looks like a string of paper routes?
Now we're going to sort of answer the initial question for the segment - can Todd and I slip upward through the cracks into money? How likely is it that non-degreed, clever and very hard workers can land a job that pays as well as a doctoral degree or a master's? For this, we looked at the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and they surveyed several executives and hiring managers. They found that 82% of executives and 75% of hiring managers believe it is very important or absolutely essential for individuals today to complete a college education. They specifically referred to the soft skills we're talking about. So, if you're more street smart and show exceptional ability, you still may want to consider earning a degree with those known stats, as you only have about a 25% chance at slipping through without one.
If there is one thing that is agreed on, Elon's work ethic is high. We did some research on this and found that his IQ is estimated at 155. So that is almost Einstein level. It's safe to say that Elon had more late nights than Albert Einstein and probably killed more blurred brain cells with drugs and alcohol at some point or another. Going back to the beginning of his career, he had $28,000 and he and his younger brother Kimball started a small software company that helped newspapers and developed online city guides. After four years, it acquired a whopping $340 million. And then, he started getting this idea about emailing money, which led to the launch of PayPal. He was someone who faced trials and worked hard through them. If we're talking street-smart versus book-smart, I've heard the phrase college is a filter for the Haves and Have Nots. Nonetheless, because you buy your way in, do you think college is a filter for socioeconomic class? I think it acts as a prerequisite. When you're on board of directors, they don't give the background to someone who worked at McDonald's and worked their way up in the construction business. Overall, I think that you can be a go-getter, be street smart, and be really good at what you do, but that degree is what makes people trust you more.
One could also look at college as a method of opportunity and hoarding for upper classes. A lot of research shows that growing up in a low socioeconomic class steers you away from trying to go for the highest abilities. An article in the Atlantic called no point in applying - why poor students are missing in top colleges. They talked about how colleges don't really cater to the underclasses. Sure, they will try to accept people from low socioeconomic classes to bring in poor people to their colleges if they have special funding and scholarship set aside for them, but generally, they don't make room for them. The college may pay for them to go, but they still have to eat and survive on campus. They also talk about how only about 14% of the undergraduate population are in college. Education is the top thing that people tell you is trustworthy and that you can make money from, but the stats point out where you work, where you live, and who you're introduced to are the real indicators.
Lastly, there was an upheld study that followed the 900 American valedictorians. They found that almost all of them from lower classes would choose cheaper schools and would choose schools near their home. They also favored schools that had lesser programs and programs that actually supported their education. The critical factor here is that poor valedictorians looking to attend top colleges simply failed to fill out the application and click submit. I think it's like a self-esteem thing and the comfort of being closer to home instead. As in many other families where no one attended college, they may also see it as the safer/easier route to take if you are lower class. In addition, many valedictorians from low socioeconomic backgrounds look at the college's price tag and are immediately scared away. So, top college support programs are nice, but they don't look at the life support system, which is completely and totally necessary for a lot of poor students.
Myth 3: College is more expensive than ever, and student debt is crushing America. So, why hasn't there been a rebellion against college degrees? Surely the price tag on bachelor’s degrees has slowed applications.
What we said earlier about continuing your education, even if you don't have a degree, you should always be learning. Most sources I could find say college degrees aren't worth as much as two years of experience at a similar job or just experience in general. Most employers would rather hire somebody that has recent experience rather than an impressive degree. A masters is probably not worth as much as two years using the software that your company is using right now.
Now there's one last question I want to ask; College is getting crazy expensive and student loans are getting so crushing, according to the Atlantic article called Millennials Are the Lost Generation. They compare Millennials to people from World War 1 because of the financial aid, the financial crisis, and the recession. According to that article, Millennials don't have a chance financially and they're lost financially. They're not going to own houses, not going to really own anything, and not going to have good jobs. So, a bachelor's degree is about 25k. It can get a lot higher than that, depending on the school. I would think that because of that insane price tag, people would stop getting degrees. Do you think that that it actually slowed the number of applicants for bachelor's degrees or graduates? We have a couple of sources that indicate that employers can demand a degree regardless of how expensive college is because they're used to being able to. They can demand degrees that aren't even related to the job. They may say that unless you have a bachelor's, you can't get hired. It kind of puts people in a catch 22 scenario.
Are you ready to apply to SpaceX? Okay, so Elon talked about how he doesn't believe in degrees. Well, at www.spacex.com under careers, we are going to apply because we have exceptional ability. We're quietly filling out our paperwork, but we will take notes.
(brief episode pause)
Joe: Okay, Todd and I are back, and we're looking at our application page. Todd, how do you do?
Todd: I went for the test operations engineer position, and I got blocked because I don't have a mechanical engineering, aerospace engineer, electrical engineer or any other engineering degree. They actually said give any kind of engineering bachelor's degree, and we will let you in. How about you?
Joe: I went for avionics, and in qualifications they required a bachelor's degree in computer science, electrical engineering, math, or science discipline along with 2+ years of professional experience with object-orientation software development. Most of these positions actually do require engineering degrees. Some of them are our doctorates and things like that; I will give them credit, though. I found 2-3 positions in engineering that would let me do it with an associate's and proof of coinciding experience. So, we are pretty far from the claim that exceptional ability is all you really need.
Final Thoughts
Like Harry Potter, college is a sorting hat. If you have the money to get into college or if you're willing to take on a lifetime of debt, then you get to learn those soft skills that employers are looking for. If you don't have money, then you're probably in for a slow financial crush that has nothing to do with test scores or your intelligence. Degrees - employers can demand them. Colleges can charge whatever they want for them. And we, the public, have to get them because if every other applicant (except you) has a piece of paper showing they can do their homework, guess who's being sent home?
We use the term ‘earn a degree,' but can we start calling it what it really is? In America, we buy a degree as a cornerstone for our resume. As for the flavor of the degree, whether it's from an Ivy League or a community college, or a Masters or an Associates, that will be the difference between wearing Prada to your job interview or a Walmart tank top.
As far as degrees go statistically, you may not need one at all for the job you apply to. You probably won't use any of the skills involved in your degree, and having one doesn't mean you have the ability to back it up. But, if you are an American, you better buy one or you can expect to earn under $600 bucks a week. And if you want to know what that looks like, you can go back and listen to our episode on the Amazon warehouses and the new standards for American wages, which is about $15 an hour.