Musk says college education ‘overrated’, success doesn’t need four-year degree
Billionaire Elon Musk speaks at a solo event in Philadelphia.
Billionaire Elon Musk said that "college is overrated." The owner of X took to social media to share a video of himself speaking about the diminishing value of traditional education and wrote in the caption that "college is overrated".
In the video, Musk was speaking at a solo event organised in support of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Philadelphia on Thursday (October 17).
Speaking at the event, Musk said that a lot of people spend their college years accumulating debt and not gaining any practical, useful skills.
"I think the value of a college education is somewhat overweighted. Too many people spend four years, accumulate a ton of debt, and often don't have useful skills that they can apply afterwards," Musk said.
Although Musk himself has earned degrees in physics and economics, he believed that one does not need a four-year degree for success.
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He said that practical skills are very important and emphasised that hands-on jobs like electricians, plumbers, and carpenters have a more crucial role in shaping one's career than some academic degrees.
"I have a lot of respect for people who work with their hands, and we need electricians, plumbers, and carpenters, and that's a lot more important than having incremental political science majors," Musk said.
"I think we should not have this idea that in order to be successful you need a four-year college degree. That is simply not true," he said.
Musk's opposition to traditional education
This is not the first time Musk has expressed his opposition to traditional education. In 2019, he stated that a college degree is not needed to work in his automotive and energy company, Tesla.
"You don’t need a college degree to work in Tesla," Musk wrote on X.
Speaking at the Satellite 2020 conference, Musk stated, "You don’t need college to learn stuff. Everything is available basically for free."
Watch:Elon Musk Fears Financial Fallout If Donald Trump Loses US Elections
He added that in college it is important to have the social experience, however, that is not the only way to gain knowledge.
"I thinkcolleges are basically for funand to prove you can do your chores. But they’re not for learning," Musk said at the time.
(With inputs from agencies)