Articulating the importance of a college degree, Gates wrote in his blogpost, “Although I dropped out of college and got lucky pursuing a career in software, getting a degree is a much surer path to success.”
“College graduates are more likely to find a rewarding job, earn higher income, and even, evidence shows, live healthier lives than if they didn’t have degrees. They also bring training and skills into America’s workforce, helping our economy grow and stay competitive,” he added. Speaking to the interviewer, Cheryl Hyman, the chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, the city’s network of community colleges, he expressed his sorrow at the low number of college graduates that the system is now producing.
“The problem isn’t that not enough people are going to college,” Gates writes. “The problem is that not enough people are finishing.”
About one-fifth of the working-age population, he acknowledges, have attended some college without receiving a degree.