Reason 3: Status

原因三：地位

"I think that's the most valid reason to go to college," Mr. Stephens allowed. "If you can go to a top school, by all means, go. It doesn't mean that you need to finish." A semester or two may be all you need, he said, to gain the advantages associated with the school's name brand.

“我认为这是最站得住脚的原因，”斯蒂芬说：“如果你被一家好学校录取了，那么不管怎么着，你都应该去上。”不过他说，即使这样也只需要读一两个学期，只要能让自己的名字和学校熠熠生辉的招牌联系在一起就足矣。

Reason 4: Self-discovery

原因四：发现自我

Many college graduates believe that they discovered themselves in their years on campus. But Mr. Stephens said the typical student's lack of real responsibility, coupled with an emphasis on rote memorization and test taking, hampers true personal growth.

不少大学毕业生认为，正是在大学时光让他们发现了自我。但斯蒂芬斯认为，大学生现在普遍缺乏真正的责任感，加之大学教育强调的是记忆能力和考试技巧，这严重阻碍了个人成长。

"College is a sandbox that gives you a false sense of reality," he said. "It's much more beneficial to learn what it means to direct your own life." Learners are better off spending early adulthood developing self-reliance, he said.

“大学是一个沙盒模型，它让你对现实产生了幻觉，”他说：“如果能了解怎样才能主宰自己的生活，这会更加有用。”他认为，人们最好能在刚迈入成年时，就开始学习自力更生。

Self-discovery might best be achieved doing something constructive, he argued, like creating a start-up.

他还认为，想要发现自我，更有用的办法是做些创造性的工作，比如建立一个初创公司。

The idea of taking a gap year off from school to explore the world and find yourself raised his hackles. "Why does it have to be a year off? Why can't it be a year on? Why should you have to take time out of the system to engage?" he asked.

他特别反感有人要在读大学期间进行为期一年的“空档年”(gap year)，用来探索世界。“干嘛非得花一年时间做这件事？一年以后为什么就停下来了？为什么只有跳出大学这个框架，才能真正了解社会？”他问。

Reason 5: Attaining a marketable degree and developing earning potential

原因五：获得拿得出手的学位，取得高薪潜力

Statistics show that college graduation correlates positively with economic factors like lower rates of unemployment and higher earnings.

数据显示，大学学历对低失业率和高收入这类经济因素有正面作用。

The key factor may be not the degree itself but the degree earner, Mr. Stephens contended. "It's not that college creates success," he said. "It's that smart and motivated people in our society tend to go to college. I bet if you took those smart and motivated people and put them out into the work force, they would earn more than other people."

不过斯蒂芬斯认为，最关键的因素也许不是学历本身，而在于获得学历的人。他说：“并不是大学为人们带来了成功，而是在我们这个社会里，聪明而上进的人通常会去读大学。我敢打赌，如果你让这些聪明上进的人别去念书，直接进入职场，他们挣的钱也比其他人要多。”

He believes that typical college coursework is largely divorced from reality: "Taking a psychology course doesn't mean you know what it's like to work as a psychologist." Better to observe, shadow and perhaps intern with professionals, he said, noting that coursework or a degree may be required to enter a profession or gain licensing.

他还认为，大学的课程普遍与现实脱钩：“学习心理学课程并不代表你知道心理医生如何工作。”他觉得更好的方式是观察、效仿或者在从业人员的手下实习，不过在从事专业工作或获得执业资格前，需要完成课业或取得学位。

He also took issue with some of the data, noting, "The lower unemployment rates are only for college graduates over 25." (Indeed, as The Times reported last spring, only slightly more than 55 percent of young college graduates are working in jobs that require a college degree.) He thought one reason might be that young graduates simply aren't developing useful skills in college.

他对一些数据提出了意见，指出“失业率较低，仅仅指的是25岁以上的大学毕业生。”（确实如此，据《纽约时报》去年春季的报道，只有55%多一点的年轻大学毕业生在从事需要大学文凭的工作。）他认为年轻大学毕业生就业不理想，其中一个原因可能在于读大学时并未获取有用的工作技能。

Rising levels of college debt, he said, further complicate the financial picture for college graduates. Young people might look at the time and money they would invest in a college education and determine a better way to use those resources.

他说，大学生所负债务越来越高，这也使得大学毕业生的经济前景更为复杂。年轻人在考虑到为了获得大学文凭需要投入的时间和金钱后，有可能决定寻找更好的方法来运用这些资源。

In the end, perhaps the point that Mr. Stephens most wanted to make is that even those who opt for college should reflect on their goals and make good, clear-eyed decisions. "Understand why you're going so you can make the most of your experience. Be honest about it," he said.

说到底，斯蒂芬斯想明确表达这样一个观点，那就是即使是决定上大学的年轻人也需要审慎地考虑自己的目标，并做出有洞察力的正确决定。“你得想明白自己为什么要上大学，这样就能最大程度地利用好这段经历。你需要对自己诚实点，”他说。

翻译：诺伊

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