After reading all of the entries (3 total), the winner is Pam in Colorado’s post!  HUGE thanks to everyone who participated and made this happen.  I am sorry it took so long to finally wrap up!

The judges (my roommates and I) loved all of the entries. Kristen, from BizChicksRule, wrote a magnificent post and had some great comments, and Kelly from TaxGirl brilliantly related the recession to the topic.

HOWEVER, as wonderful as each of these posts are, we thought Pam covered every facet of the subject.

Here’s my take on the contest…

It is difficult to find people who are not advocates of education. I have plenty of friends who have decided to pass on college and there are millions of reasons to swing the argument either way. After four years in college, I have discovered that an education is never guaranteed; but the professors are there to facilitate it.

In terms of entrepreneurship, much of what is desired is motivation and creativity - much of which cannot be taught.

Pam said:

I have seen the most creative individuals drop out of schools (high school or college) because they do not learn in the same way the schools present information. Many entrepreneurs seem to be kinesthetic learners and movement allows them to process, create and complete things. Our schools are not equipped to allow such styles. Sit still, pay attention, stay within the lines.

Stay within the lines really hits a note with the general theme of the subject. Entrepreneurship should not often revolve around conformity or standards. Creating, designing, building, and selling a successful product is an art… and staying within the bounds of what has been taught to be standardized can only be detrimental.

Higher education should be conducive to learning that allows thought processes and experimentation that supports failing forward, since failure that leads to success is amazing and the basis of most inventions. We need to learn how to overcome obstacles and encourage thinking processes that allow knowledge that goes beyond the 9 - 5 beliefs.

Congratulations, Pam - you wrote a $20 Amazon gift card post (yeah, I rounded up for the prize)!

 Alright, as you all know, I have this crazy cool contest going down called the “We Don’t Need No Education” contest.  You have until Tuesday to submit something!  I’m looking forward to seeing some of your results!   I kind of wanted to jump in and throw forward a few ideas.

I am an education advocate, but that is my opinions.  Since opinions are never facts and never wrong, an argument for both sides can always be made.

Oh… and for the record, my own entry doesn’t count towards the contest.

Creativity cannot be taught.  Ambition cannot be taught.  Motivation can be influenced, but there isn’t a formula for it in any of my books.  These three stepping stones represent the stairs to starting your own business.  Going to college, while helpful for those who need to fill out a job application, is costly and takes time.  Some days I don’t enjoy college - it often isn’t rewarding and (to be honest) I don’t really like my major.

You are force fed information and asked to memorize and regurgitate on tests that decide your grade.  If you fail, that’s money wasted.  Even if you pass, how does that help you become an entrepreneur?  You embody the idea of your business and it shouldn’t take a college education to support it.

Hopefully that will stir up some ideas for some more articles.

So here’s a few submissions for the contest so far:

Kelly from taxgirl.com posted:

While it’s true that many jobs require a college education - or beyond (like law) - increasingly, you can find a decent job without a college education. This is especially common in the tech industry where some knowledge in java or html can take you a lot further than biology.

Let me be clear: I believe in education. I am thankful to have been the first person in my family to graduate from college. I am especially proud to be the only person in my family - extended or otherwise - to graduate from law school. But education in the United States is expensive. Very expensive.

 Pam in Colorado from pamsponderings has this to say:

In my opinion higher education is not synonomous with college, although that has been the accepted definition for many years and the vision for the majority of our society. There was a time in our history that a college path made sense with the economy and work force, but times have greatly changed and opportunity does not fit the same mold.

I have a college degree. I did learn some useful things in college, but my overall education there was predominately based on the opinion and agenda of the individual teacher/professor than on the actual practical knowledge for the area I was being “educated” for. The true nature and knowledge that I have today, in regard to the area I studied, came when I entered the field, not from the information I acquired in the classroom - with the exception of an approach taught by one of my college professors. She was the only one who did not teach from the accepted institutional approach. She helped me think beyond the accepted norm. Her approach was controversial then, and I think would still be in most schools today - because they put techniques to question and most people do not want to question or be questioned.

These are only snippets - be sure to check out their articles to read the rest!  Thanks for the submissions!

Let’s get right down to the point: I am an education advocate.  I want people to school me on why higher education is not necessary (or has a detrimental effect) to be a successful entrepreneur.

I don’t want to hear some short argument saying “Well, college CAN be helpful… but it also may not be.”  I want to hear an argument explaining how those who are currently receiving a higher education are wasting their time (just as an example, of course).  Be sparing with your concessions and know what you are talking about.

Think along the lines of this:

Why is college unnecessary?
How does it distort your goals?
How are you prepared for being an entrepreneur straight out of high school?
Here’s what’s going down:

• I want any length blog post or email (jim.gordon@b5media.com) explaining why education isn’t necessary to be a successful entrepreneur
• Blog posts must link back to this page
• The last day to submit entries will be April 4th - that’s 2 weeks from today!
• If you are emailing, include Education Contest in the title

I’ll keep everyone posted on the entries and the progress of the contest.  Now for the juicy part… the prize.

Prize for:
2 entries = $10 Amazon.com gift card
4 entries = $20 Amazon.com gift card
6 entries = $30 Amazon.com gift card
8 entries = $40 Amazon.com gift card
10 entries = $50 Amazon.com gift card
15 entries = $60 Amazon.com gift card
20 entries = $75 Amazon.com gift card

Only one entry is allowed per person.  The winner will be picked by a super awesome panel of judges (including myself) and will be announced on Monday, April 7th.  Good luck!