When people think of the value of a college education, they tend to think of it in monetary terms. But Ken doesn’t think that measuring the economic value of a college education is the best way to go. College is about so much more than the size of your future paycheck. For example, the major you choose may actually end up having little bearing on what you actually end up doing, so you should just pick your passion and follow it. Even if parents are concerned about employability – some with reason – there comes a time when you have to listen to your own intuition and voice. And if you choose to go with Philosophy, you’ll actually be among the majors with higher employment rates! Who would’ve guessed? John and Ken further discuss how the liberal arts prepare you for life and the utter pointlessness of college ratings.

John and Ken welcome guest John Hennessy, former Stanford University President. John asks this special guest why he decided to drop a successful career in Silicon Valley – John Hennessy is, after all, not called the Godfather of Silicon Valley for nothing – and return to academia. John explains that he came back because he really loved working with students and teaching in the classroom. John follows up: there’s a lot of pressure for students to go to college, although only about a third of Americans hold a 4-year college degree. So should everyone go to college? Some sort of education beyond high school, John Hennessy believes, is crucial in terms of creating opportunity and live a really fulfilling life. That’s not to say everyone should go to an elite institution – for some students, community college is just right; for others, it’s a four-year program. The most important thing isn’t starting college but completing it. Ken asks about the college rating system and hyper-focus on competitive admissions, to which John replies that an undergraduate degree is a foundation, it’s the beginning. It’s the start, rather than the end, of your education.

So the student gets into their dream college. Then comes the truly hard part: the freedom that a college education offers. The amount of choice, the variety, the different fields of study. And, as Ken says, freedom can be hard to navigate! He asks John to give students advice on how to embark on this journey. John says that it’s all about following your passion, and there’s two reasons for that: you should enjoy what you’re learning about, and whatever you study is likely to lead to some kind of career direction. The last thing you want to do is spend your life working on something that doesn’t interest you. So dabble – try different courses, stretch your wings. In the U.S., you have room to experiment. That said, a college education is a big investment of time and money, so you can’t completely put aside your career concerns. You have to strike for a balance between the two.

观众提出了三个受欢迎的问题，他们继续讨论，解决的问题包括:大学是为那些已经找到自己激情的人保留的地方吗?或者那些尚未决定专业的人可以去探索吗?大学通常在学生身上寻找什么?你所在的地区是否会影响你的申请被如何看待?性别和种族在大学录取中扮演什么角色?

• Roving Philosophical Reporter (Seek to 7:29):Philosophy Talk's Reporter Shuka Kalantari investigates the billion-dollar private college consulting industry, which feeds into the fears of high school students and their worried parents. She talks to Richard Shaw, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Stanford University, and to Nicole Hoseman, a college admissions consultant, about how important it is to pick a school that’s right for you.
• 60-Second Philosopher (Seek to 46:12):Ian Shoales talks about the hard life of rockstars in 2017 and how you practically need a college education to be a rockstar nowadays.