There are many types of essays that you could write during your college years. The content and length of the essay depends on your level, subject matter and course requirements. However, most essays at the university level are argumentative: they seek to convince the reader of a certain position or view on a topic.
Is a College Degree needed?
- Thread starter lauren Imbrockk
- Start date
Great question! Whether a college degree is needed often depends on the career path you're interested in. For some fields, like medicine, law, or engineering, a degree is essential. However, in other areas such as tech or creative industries, skills and experience can sometimes outweigh formal education. It's important to research your desired field and see what qualifications are required. Has anyone found success without a degree?
DarrenHard
New member
- Jul 28, 2024
- 1
- 0
It really varies from person to person and industry to industry. In many cases, a degree can open doors and provide valuable networking opportunities. On the other hand, there are numerous successful entrepreneurs and professionals who have thrived without formal education. What seems most crucial is a willingness to learn continuously and adapt to new challenges. What are your experiences or thoughts on this topic?
Coffee_Mad_Man
Member
- Jul 26, 2024
- 49
- 14
avoid degrees unless there's a guaranteed job at the end (eg law/healthcare), total waste of money IMO. I think everyone has already given some solid advice around starting your own cafe and I never started one so can't comment on that.
If you don't have parental backing or significant cash already, a degree will land you in a lifetime of bad debt. I've enjoyed working life FAR more than uni life, everyone at university just wanted to go out, get wasted and scrape by. I moved swiftly to the hard-working crowds who wanted to succeed but that didn't get rid of the debt! I have a degree in mech engineering which sounds amazing until you look at the salaries...
The only caveats to what I'm saying are:
1. if you have significant drive to complete a degree in something and have a planned out route to succeed no matter the cost then go for it.
2. If you go to Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford or Harvard, you'll be around a university full of hard-working students so you'll more than likely succeed - note I never went there but lots of top business people and wealthy innovators were from those unis (if anyone went to those unis are on here I'm curious to know whether my assumption here is correct or not)
Hope this helps.
michaelharrell
New member
- Jun 15, 2026
- 2
- 0
I get what you’re saying and you’re right that a degree isn’t worth it if you don’t have a clear plan or financial support. Debt is a real issue and a lot of people do end up regretting it.
But I don’t think it’s fair to say degrees are generally a waste. For some fields they’re still basically required and for a lot of people they open doors that are hard to access otherwise.
At the end of the day it really depends on the person and the path they choose not just the degree itself.
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While it is true you don't need a degree to open a business, Bill Gates never had a degree, though he did attend college for 2 years, but dropped out. For normal people this not the idea thing to do.
About 49% of startups are out of business in 5 years; but most business owners have at least a BA degree as I did, which I later turned that into 3 BA's. Owners with more education tend to run larger, more successful businesses, but a business degree itself does NOT guarantee higher survival, and many successful entrepreneurs have no degree at all. The relationship is correlation, not causation.
I recommend getting a college degree, it is immensely helpful. I would get a Business Administration with a Small Business / Entrepreneurship track. This degree gives you the skills that matter most for a coffee shop’s survival:
Financial management (cash flow, margins, payroll)
Marketing and branding
Hiring and HR
Operations and supply chain
Legal and regulatory basics
Business planning and forecasting
Coffee shops fail most often due to poor financial management, not poor coffee. A business degree directly addresses that. Also watch a lot of You Tube videos by professionals making coffee. But if you want a dedicated coffee education then I would strongly recommend Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Training, this is the best there is in the coffee industry. They will teach you:
Barista Skills (Beginner → Intermediate → Professional)
Brewing Science
Sensory Skills
Roasting
Green Coffee
Coffee Shop Management
And they offer training classes in the USA.
Depends on how fast you want to get your coffee shop going, if you want to get on the fast track start first with the SCA training, then start the shop, then as the shop is in business go to college part time to get the degree, and it's ok if it takes 6 to 8 years to complete, just don't go into debt to do it. You will need that degree when you add more employees and more locations.
I also would advise you to visit many coffee shops, especially in large cities. As you visit these shops note the traffic volume, and why do certain shops have more traffic, are they offering an atmosphere that is conducive for people to relax in, or to do business in, are they offering products that others are not. I would consider offering types of coffee that most shops don't offer like Turkish and make real Turkish coffee not a pretend Turkish by using the espresso maker and adding in Cardamom then call it Turkish; there is also Vietnamese coffee; there are several types of ways to make coffee that most shops gloss over. If you live in an area that has a large population from the Mediterranean area, or the Middle East learn how to make various Turkish coffees; if you have a population from the Pacific region learn how to make various types of Vietnamese style coffees. These coffees are not difficult to make, but you have to know how to make them, how much and what type of spice to use, when to use straight robusta coffee bean and ask if they want sweetened condense milk. A person from the Mediterranean/Mid East would probably want to see the coffee made in a sand pit because they are looking for the traditional way even though it can be done on a stove top and taste the same.
Try to stand out from the rest of the crowd that makes the same thing as all the other shops do. I think someone making espresso using a manual lever machine is more artistic than just pushing a button and letting a machine do it. Keep your prices a bit on the lower end of the scale when starting out, after 10 years or so and you have gained favor in the community then slowly raise your prices to the mid-point. You go to certain places in Italy and go to coffee shops there, you will see them using manual coffee makers, like the Moka Pot and the Neapolitan coffee maker. Shops that roast coffee and sell fresh roasted coffee to their customers do better than those shops that don't...generally speaking.
If you get a chance, go to a few other countries and see what they use, most Western countries will use machines, but not so much in the Eastern countries. My little cheap Vietnamese Phin maker makes very nice, but strong, coffee; I have several ways to make coffee at home.
When you own a business never stop learning about that particular business.
About 49% of startups are out of business in 5 years; but most business owners have at least a BA degree as I did, which I later turned that into 3 BA's. Owners with more education tend to run larger, more successful businesses, but a business degree itself does NOT guarantee higher survival, and many successful entrepreneurs have no degree at all. The relationship is correlation, not causation.
I recommend getting a college degree, it is immensely helpful. I would get a Business Administration with a Small Business / Entrepreneurship track. This degree gives you the skills that matter most for a coffee shop’s survival:
Financial management (cash flow, margins, payroll)
Marketing and branding
Hiring and HR
Operations and supply chain
Legal and regulatory basics
Business planning and forecasting
Coffee shops fail most often due to poor financial management, not poor coffee. A business degree directly addresses that. Also watch a lot of You Tube videos by professionals making coffee. But if you want a dedicated coffee education then I would strongly recommend Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) Training, this is the best there is in the coffee industry. They will teach you:
Barista Skills (Beginner → Intermediate → Professional)
Brewing Science
Sensory Skills
Roasting
Green Coffee
Coffee Shop Management
And they offer training classes in the USA.
Depends on how fast you want to get your coffee shop going, if you want to get on the fast track start first with the SCA training, then start the shop, then as the shop is in business go to college part time to get the degree, and it's ok if it takes 6 to 8 years to complete, just don't go into debt to do it. You will need that degree when you add more employees and more locations.
I also would advise you to visit many coffee shops, especially in large cities. As you visit these shops note the traffic volume, and why do certain shops have more traffic, are they offering an atmosphere that is conducive for people to relax in, or to do business in, are they offering products that others are not. I would consider offering types of coffee that most shops don't offer like Turkish and make real Turkish coffee not a pretend Turkish by using the espresso maker and adding in Cardamom then call it Turkish; there is also Vietnamese coffee; there are several types of ways to make coffee that most shops gloss over. If you live in an area that has a large population from the Mediterranean area, or the Middle East learn how to make various Turkish coffees; if you have a population from the Pacific region learn how to make various types of Vietnamese style coffees. These coffees are not difficult to make, but you have to know how to make them, how much and what type of spice to use, when to use straight robusta coffee bean and ask if they want sweetened condense milk. A person from the Mediterranean/Mid East would probably want to see the coffee made in a sand pit because they are looking for the traditional way even though it can be done on a stove top and taste the same.
Try to stand out from the rest of the crowd that makes the same thing as all the other shops do. I think someone making espresso using a manual lever machine is more artistic than just pushing a button and letting a machine do it. Keep your prices a bit on the lower end of the scale when starting out, after 10 years or so and you have gained favor in the community then slowly raise your prices to the mid-point. You go to certain places in Italy and go to coffee shops there, you will see them using manual coffee makers, like the Moka Pot and the Neapolitan coffee maker. Shops that roast coffee and sell fresh roasted coffee to their customers do better than those shops that don't...generally speaking.
If you get a chance, go to a few other countries and see what they use, most Western countries will use machines, but not so much in the Eastern countries. My little cheap Vietnamese Phin maker makes very nice, but strong, coffee; I have several ways to make coffee at home.
When you own a business never stop learning about that particular business.
