Is university worth the money anymore?

Jonah Hill makes a cute hot dog in Accepted, courtesy of Universal

The way things are looking nowadays, dropping out of college seems like a very appealing idea.

College is 50% more expensive than it was 30 years ago. You could get a student loan, but that'll leave you with massive debt after graduation. No matter, with the current job market you'll be able to pay that off in... Never mind, you're screwed.

At the top of my head I can name billionaires who've dropped out of college: Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are the poster children for success without a degree. That doesn't even include the achievements of people I know personally and without a doubt respect.

And yet numbers don't lie: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (in the US), the unemployment rate for those aged 25 or older with just a high school degree is 8.4%. The rate was 6.9% for those with some college degree and 3.8% for those with a bachelor's degree or higher. Researchers at the Brookings Institution report that those with a college degree can expect to earn more than those with just a high school diploma: Approximately $450,000 for someone who started college in 2010.

Meet Dale J. Stephens, founder of UnCollege.org and author of Hacking Your Education, due out in 2013. Did I mention he's 21? The former Hendrix College student was frustrated with how much he was paying for college to learn so little. Over the winter break, he began corresponding with Rebecca Goldman, a Dartmouth college dropout who shared his frustration. With her encouragement, he launched the website almost a year ago, similar to the movie Accepted.

Courtesy of UnCollege.org

UnCollege pledges to "show you how to gain the passion, hustle, and contrarianism requisite for success — all without setting foot inside a classroom." Basically, the organization gives you the resources to learn on your own. Alternatively, you can sign up for the UnCollege Gap Year Program. This includes three months in San Francisco learning how to create your own learning plans, three months abroad, another three months in San Francisco pursuing a creative project and three months working at a startup.

It's too soon to tell how UnCollege's students will manage post-grad, but it's undeniable that we are all moving in a similar direction. There are just different roads to get there.