My theatre degree has been useless from a compensation standpoint for me. It was somewhat helpful when I was in sales but I only got it because it was the easiest degree that required the least amount of maths.

I went to college because my parents forced me to. Thankfully I got out without any debt. I cant imagine how upset I would be if I racked up 100K is debt and ended up with a useless degree like many of my friends did.

That being said... I cant really blame my parents for forcing me to go. It did seem like the best option at the time. No one told me, or I guess them, about alternative educational programs or trade schools. I'd probably be a carpenter now if someone had. I had pretty much zero plans for my life post high school so college at least gave me something to do while I figured it out.

"the number of STEM degrees in the US has basically been flat for decades"

Between 2008 and 2015 the number grew by nearly 50%.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d16/tables/dt16_318.45.a...

> kids are effectively being propagandized and brainwashed into chasing worthless credentials

They also force each other into "worthless credentials", as many college graduates will only date other college graduates.

Paying for the Party is a good book about this issue of STEM degrees being flat and money being pumped in by students doing marketing, PR, communications, and business management degrees.