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The earning front
Is college a scam? Here is why I think AI skills pay instead
Why do I call college a scam?
Let me be clear first: this is my opinion. I am 18, I run RapidXAI from Pune, and I chose not to follow the usual path. So I am biased, and you should know that before you read another word.
Here is what I mean by scam. You pay a big amount, you give up years, and at the end you get a piece of paper. Nobody in the building is paid based on whether you can earn afterwards. To me, that incentive problem is the whole story.
What does a degree actually give you?
A degree is a signal. It tells an employer you sat through something for three or four years. That has some value, I am not pretending it has none.
But a signal is not a skill. A client who needs missed calls answered does not ask for your marksheet. They ask whether you can fix the problem. That is the gap I keep seeing, and it is why I think the paper alone is weak.
- A degree proves attendance, not ability
- Clients pay for outcomes, not certificates
- Employers sometimes filter on it, so it is not worthless
Why do AI skills pay faster than a degree?
Businesses right now have a simple pain: they miss calls, reply late on WhatsApp, and do boring work by hand. If you can build a voice agent or an automation that fixes that, a business owner can see the value in one demo.
That shortens the distance between learning and earning. Nobody can promise you a number, and results vary a lot with effort. But the path from skill to first client is months, not years, in my experience.
What does a skill-first path look like?
You pick one service, learn it by building real things, and show it to a local business. Then you repeat until someone pays. If you want the full comparison of the two routes, read College vs AI Skills: Which Earns Faster? (Opinion).
The part college never covers is selling. You will have to talk to strangers and hear no. I think that is the most valuable thing you can learn at 18, and it costs you nothing but ego.
When is my opinion wrong?
If you want to be a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer who needs a licence, you need the degree. I am not telling those people to quit. Please do not hear that from me.
My opinion is about people who are going to college because everyone does, with no plan to use it. For them I would ask the question in Is College Worth It in the AI Era? My Honest Take before paying a single rupee.
What should you do this week?
Do not drop out of anything on a whim. Pick one skill, spend thirty days building something real, and see if a business will talk to you. That test is cheap and it tells you a lot.
If you want a structured route, I built a course and community for it, and I explain it honestly in What Is EducateXAI? A Plain Explanation of the Course. Read the reality check first so your expectations are right.
What do parents and friends say about this?
Usually the first reaction is fear, and I get it. Parents want you safe, and a degree looks like safety because it is the path they know. I do not think they are wrong to care. I think the map they hold is old.
What helps is showing them evidence instead of arguing. Build one real project, show a business using it, and let them see it. A conversation backed by work lands very differently from one backed by opinion, including mine.
Honestly, a lot of the damage is in how people use it. Going with no plan, borrowing or spending family money, and treating the degree as the finish line. In my opinion that is where people get hurt.
Used with a clear goal, a degree can be a fine tool. Used as a hiding place from the harder question of how you will earn, it is expensive and slow. Ask yourself which one you are doing.
If you want a structured way to build and sell an AI skill, join the group, and go in knowing results depend on you.
See EducateXAI$197 one time. Results vary. Read the results disclaimer and refund policy.
Questions people ask
Is college really a scam?
In my opinion, for many people yes, because the cost is high and the outcome is a certificate, not a skill. For licensed careers like medicine it is a requirement. It depends on your goal, and this is my view, not a fact for everyone.
Can you earn without college?
Yes, people do, by building a skill that clients pay for and selling it. It is not easy and nothing is guaranteed. Results vary with effort, consistency and how well you can sell what you build.
Should I drop out to learn AI skills?
I would not tell anyone to drop out on impulse. Test a skill alongside your studies for thirty days first. If a real client shows interest, you have evidence, and then the decision becomes much clearer.