The world is changing and evolving… and the rules that govern success with it. While there was a time when a college degree seemed quite necessary in order to work in a professional capacity, those days are long gone. With the widespread availability of the internet, easily accessible learning resources, and on the job experience and training programs becoming so common, people who are seeking education have plenty of options that don’t always include a typical college or university setting at all.

This is especially true for those in the entrepreneurship field. In fact, for many innovative thinkers and motivated business people, college is simply a stumbling block that can waste time, money, and expert talent. Sure, things can…and hopefully will… be learned while pursuing a degree, but at what cost? So, if you have been considering your options, and trying to decide whether to jump into the world of business or cruise for awhile as a student learner, consider these five reasons why an entrepreneur doesn’t need a college degree.

1. College Teaches What Has Been Done, Not What Hasn’t

A large part of being a true entrepreneur is looking at the world around you and asking what hasn’t been done that could make things better. While students are inundated with information about the past and filled with knowledge on current practices, most degree programs will not teach you how to think outside the proverbial box. In fact, many colleges are notorious for stifling creativity and requiring compliance… something that can hinder free thinking and innovative mindsets.

2. College Is Time You Will Never Get Back

Have you heard the saying, “Time is Money?” Well, in the case of pursuing a degree, it really can be quite true. The time you spend doing busywork and writing papers could be spent creating a company, developing a design, or building a business from the ground up. Sure, you will have a nice degree at the end of those four plus years, but what might you have accomplished instead, given the same amount of time and effort to devote to something that you were passionate about?

3. College Comes With No Guarantees

While there are people out there who will brag to you about job placement programs and assure you of instant success after you have reached graduation date, the reality is that you may have wasted a lot of time for nothing. A recent study, of those who have pursued a traditional form of higher education, shows that the jobs just aren’t there for recent graduates. In fact, about fifty percent of students who received a college degree in 2010 currently hold jobs that require less than a bachelor’s degree. Most of these jobs really require only a high school diploma. How is that for a guarantee?

4. College Is A Waste Of Money

Did you know that the typical bachelor’s degree will likely cost you over 100k in tuition and books to obtain? While I firmly believe in investing in yourself and your future, dropping this kind of change at a college is not the only option for success. Think about what kind of company you could start with a 100k loan to get started or some great investments that you could make with this kind of money! Add to this the amount of potential earnings that you miss out on while hanging around a classroom or frat house and you have a figure that most would consider quite ridiculous for what you get in return.

5. College Is Too General

The fifth and final reason that an entrepreneur doesn’t need a college degree is because there is way too much time spent on “general knowledge” subjects that won’t ever be used in life or career again. Take a classic four year business degree, for example. Most require the students to learn management, marketing, accounting, international business, and finance on some level. Most also require at least a year of electives… that may be anything from fitness related classes to science, history, or underwater basket weaving. While these things are not bad, so to speak, they really do not get you where you want to go very quickly. Sadly enough, I have met graduates who successfully completed four years of school… with great grades and a high GPA…but walked into their first job not knowing how to do anything relevant to the business world. In these cases, they might as well have been high school grads for what they could do.

Generally speaking, being an entrepreneur requires skills that just aren’t always taught at a college or university. Things like having a desire to succeed, tolerating uncertainty, goal setting, and perseverance will get you much further in an entrepreneurial centered career choice than a degree will. While entrepreneurs should constantly be learning, growing, advancing, and asking questions, doing so in a traditional college setting isn’t always the right answer.