The idea of a college education is as American as apple pie. We all grow up with the hope that we can have a college education and that one is necessary in order to succeed in life.
接受大学教育对于美国人来说就像吃苹果派一样稀松平常。我们从小就接受这样的思维：大学教育必不可少，那是成功的必备因素。
Children of Ivy League graduates may grow up thinking that Harvard, Yale or other such institutions are their birthright, their parents instilling the expectation that they will go almost from the cradle.
毕业于常春藤的家长会给尚在襁褓之中的孩子灌输这样的期待，使他们的孩子觉得天生就应该进入哈佛、耶鲁或者类似的学校。
Other children, particularly very intelligent ones, born to less wealthy families may be pushed by parents and teachers to see a route to college as the way to a better life. It is no surprise that sports scholarships are so heavily contested.
出生平凡但聪慧过人的孩子老师和父母就会让他考入大学以赢取更好的生活。体育奖学金的竞争如此激烈也不奇怪。
We tell our children that if only they go to college they are set for life, they will earn a premium over and above what they could have earned without those extra years of study.
我们会告诉孩子，只要考上了大学你将过上吃穿不愁的优质生活，而没有这些学习，你想都不要想了。
We have repeated this mantra to ourselves for so long that it has become accepted fact.
这些“咒语”经过不断重复，已经成为无需争辩的事实了。
What we have consistently failed to do, however, is to undertake reality checks to see whether the story we spin ourselves still has some basis in fact.
我们一贯失败的的是，是否能在讲述自己的故事时仍可保持以事实为依据。
Does college really confer a premium and if so is that premium worth it? Or, alternatively, is it all a big con?
上大学是必须的吗，如果是，价值有那么高吗？或与之相反，这其实是个骗局？
Is college an industry like any other that uses advertising (false or otherwise) to try to get us to part with our money in return for a dubious product?
大学是像其它工业产出的产品一样，通过广告进行推销的吗？
Here are our top 10 reasons to save your money and stay away from college.
下面是不读大学把钱存下来的理由：

10.No one really knows what to do with their life age 18
10.18岁时候没有人知道自己应该做什么
When you are 18 years old it is easy to think that the world is your oyster. It is true that your whole life is before you and the directions it can take are limitless. You can, if you are lucky, do anything.
18岁时候你觉得整个世界都是美好的。想要的一切近在咫尺，任何方向都有可能。如果运气好的话，就没有你做不了的事。
The vast majority of American children are not worldly wise, they know little of life outside their town or state.
绝大多数的美国孩子与其他国家相比眼界较窄，对他们镇和州之外的事情知之甚少。

It is difficult to put an absolute figure on it but it seems that less than 5% of Americans like to travel abroad.
孩子们很难对是否要上大学有全面考虑，美国人经常出国旅行的人数比例不足5%。
This means that a child born in the US is far less likely to be aware of life in all its glory and complexity and their peers from Europe. They have a very sheltered and limited world view.
这意味着出生在美国的孩子对生活的理解和认知的广度相比欧洲的孩子要浅显很多，他们的眼界和世界观都是有限的。
Sure they may want to be a doctor or a lawyer but how many of them actually know what those jobs entail (glamorized Hollywood shows aside).
他们想成为医生或者律师，但，许多人又不是很了解这些领域（不包括好莱坞电影的印象）。
They may want to be an architect but have they any experience of the type of environments they could be working in?
他们想成为建筑师，却又不了解建筑师的工作环境。
The sad truth is that unless children have really done their research (and be truthful how many really have) they may end up limiting their options by going to college and choosing the wrong course.
事实上，除非孩子们真的做了全面的调查（坦率地说，有多少真的做了），积累起丰富的认知才能避免选错专业。
Changing your major can be expensive and time-consuming.
换专业不仅很昂贵而且又很浪费时间。
Taking the time out to do a gap year (a European concept that has been gaining popularity in the US) can help an 18 year old to figure out what they really want to do and to see whether or not college should be a part of that plan.
花一年的过渡期（过渡期,来自欧洲的概念并在美国逐渐流行）会帮助18岁的孩子找到什么是真正想要的和是否要上大学。

9.If everyone has something it becomes worth less in the real world
9.人人都有，含金量下降
In 2009 President Obama said that his goal was that by 2020 America should have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.
2009年，美国总统奥巴马说他的目标是截止到2020年美国将拥有最高比例的受大学教育程度人口。
This would mean, in practice that significantly more than 50% of the school leaving population will need to be in college in 2020 to meet that ill thought out goal. At the present time around 35% of young Americans attend college.
意思是，到2020年，会有超过50%没读过大学的人需要上大学。目前为止共有35%的美国年轻人读大学。
Increasing this percentage has a number of challenges not least requiring an expansion of infrastructure and finding lecturers for all those extra students.
快速增长的学生数量急需大量的基础设施和足够多的讲师。

Are those lecturers going to be any good? Are the buildings the students learn in going to be up to standard?
讲师的水平足够高吗？教学楼的质量能满足需要吗？
Almost certainly not, this means that even if college is made affordable students will be paying for a lower class product.
如果不能，那就意味支付着相同学费得到却是低质量的教育。
Think also about the ramifications of mass enrolment on the 'premium' a college degree confers.
想想好大学为了满足大量学生而涌现出的分校。
Will having more college graduates magic the required graduate jobs out of thin air? No it won't.
更多的大学毕业生会制造出更多的就业机会吗？不会。
If it is too easy to get a degree graduates will need something else to set them apart from the crowd. This will mean more time in college to get a Masters or a PhD.
如果获取学位过于简单，那你若想在竞争中脱颖而出就还必须得有其它技能。这意味着，必须花更多的时间来取得一个硕士或者博士学位才有竞争力。
This in turn means more years out of the workplace and even more college debt to service. Enrolling more people in college is a lose-lose.
更少的工作挣钱的时间，更多的大学费用，更多的人读大学是个双输的局面。
Funds would be better spent ensuring that entrance tests are rigorous and that scholarships are available to ensure that there is equality of access to the opportunities a college education can offer for the right jobs.
严格的入学考试能够保证资金的高效率，奖学金则能够给拮据的同学有相同的学习机会。

8.It is possible to access high quality courses online
8.可以获得高质量的网上课程
The internet has opened up a wide range of alternatives to a traditional college education.
互联网开辟了各种可以替代传统大学教育的道路。
With platforms such as UDEMY and Coursera you can study what you want when you want, often through accredited institutions and gain credits at the same time.
在一些网络培训平台上，比如UDEMY和Coursera，你可以随时学习你想要的东西，通常经由认证机构并且你同时还可以获得学分。
This means that you can tailor your studies to your own needs.
这意味着你可以为你自己量身定制学习内容。

You can also study the courses at a time that is convenient for you, meaning that you have the opportunity to work and gain experience (and money) in the real world while still expanding your knowledge base. You will save a lot of money but still have access to a high quality qualification.
你也可以在你方便的时候学习课程，这表示在扩大知识面的同时你还有机会在现实生活中工作和获取经验（和金钱）。你可以节省一大笔钱，但是仍可以获得高质量的资格证书。
The flexibility of an online course also means that it is easier to explore different areas of study to find out what is right for you without the negative consequences of changing a whole major.
网络课程的灵活性也更有利于你探究不同的学习领域，找出什么是适合你的，不会存在因改变一整个主修课目而带来的负面影响。
Far more effectively than any Presidential announcement about mass participation in higher education, online courses have really made it possible for everyone to study to a level that they need to succeed and even excel in life.
网络课程现以实现让每个人的学习能达到他们想取得成功甚至在生活中胜过别人需要达到的水平，这比任何总统发布关于大众参与高等教育的宣言都有效。