No, not really. But I understand that I, for the most part, have to participate in a system that I believe is fundamentally broken.

There's almost nothing I learned during my 4 year college education that prepared me for any of my (tech) jobs post-graduation. And, due to poor decisions that I made, essentially as a child, I dropped out of high school when I was 16. So, a GED and a college education seemed like the only way out of the hole I dug myself at the time.

I guess now that I am 30 and know myself a lot better, what I do regret is not being more creative. I probably could've figured out a way into a job similar to the one I have now if I had been more creative and avoided getting a 4 year degree.

>There's almost nothing I learned during my 4 year college education that prepared me for any of my (tech) jobs post-graduation

Did you participate? I've always been an avid and successful self-teacher, but college gave me opportunities and goals that I would have as an individual "smart" person. Everyone I've met who "tried" in an educational setting has come out knowing more than when they went in.

I wouldn't be quite so quick to dismiss the ability of a college diploma to get you past the first level HR filters at so many companies, especially for tech positions. When there are a ton of candidates for a job it's really easy to circular file the ones that have just a GED and no secondary education.

It's not so much that it doesn't help as, is it worth the cost? Community colleges, with a transfer to in-state public universities, should be a relatively affordable option for that use case.