hmmm... excellent topic although it should be in the Career Forum. i'm gonna reply and then move it to the Career Section.
I've been through a similar dilemma at more than one point in time. I'm an undegrad myself at the Univ. of Toronto... specialist in Software Engineering and minor in Math.
Besides my degree, I have a bunch of professional certifications which in turn have fetched me great contract jobs throughout the Univ. and eased the burden of tuition on me etc.
This is where the dilemma comes in. I've earned a quite handsome amount just by completing those cerifications and I'm sure if I pursued the opportunitites more seriously, I could get a high-paying job just on the basis of what I have outside the Univ.
I've thought about this not once not twice but so many times.
Similarly, others with me also believe that more specialized vocational or technical training is the key to finding a job. I now however tend to disagree.
I think the value of a Univ. education is not in what you study but more in what you learn. The communications and critical thinking skills are more important than specific job skills such as computer competency.
Here's a concrete example. These days I'm working on a contract with a bunch of programmers. Most of them are Certified Sun Programmers. When it comes to designing a solution, they're simply blank. However, when I tell them this is how you'll do it... they can work just fine! see what I mean. Alhamdullilah I can say that if not anything else, the hard work at Univ pays maybe not in the short-term but the long-term.
The certifications that I have... I tend to study two nights and write the exam and two months later I forget everything about it, whereas there's no way I'm ever gonna forget the details of logic and issues in Software Design etc. cuz the foundation's been built.
Also the image of liberal arts grads - "would you like fries with that!" is one which the public is accountable for.
I like the U of T slogan which goes somefin like:
Not all History grads get jobs - they run their own businesses
Finally, to rest my point,
the public’s image of liberal arts and sciences graduates as "unemployed PhD’s and literature majors serving cappuccinos" simply doesn’t square with reality. Research shows that the average history graduate, for example, has a similar earnings pattern and salary level to graduates in architecture or biochemistry.
[This message has been edited by Umar Talib (edited January 25, 2001).]