Web Design in College - Is it worth it?

[emonkey]

To anyone who went to college and studied web design or anything similar. Please help me out.

Is college the place to go for web training or would you recommend those trade schools that teach it for a year then give you the boot?

Is the web field in the same boat as the IT field? (Oversaturated because of the dotcom fallouts, and way too many people fighting for the same jobs).

I am an MCP, A+, computer guy with 3yr experience. Ive been unemployed for 4 months now, and have noticed that the market is oversaturated with people like me and the demand (in major cities) is alot lower than last year. So im considering bailing out and going to college to do web design.

 

[StageLeft]

Can you increase the skills in the area you have now? Web development (do you mean development, or do you mean design in the graphical sense?) is not nearly as strong as it has been in the past. I'm also out of work, laid off in a crappy .com hehe

 

[Tauren]

IF you are ambitious, I'd say save the money and buy books and/or search the web for tutorials. You can learn alot that way.

 

[kami]

IMHO, having a college degree would be worth more to an employer than a trade school. Even more important is experience, so take any odd jobs you can find.

 

[emonkey]

Skoorb-
Im working the skills i have in my current field but its just not as fun as it used to be for me. I can definitely do it, but im thinking of the 10 year projection so a field change may be what I need.

As for Web Development and Web Design. Which field holds more promise and job security? I am looking into both actually...

 

[novon]

It used to not be important, I was also a designer workign for a .com that went under. Now, I'm thinking of getting a 4 year degree.

 

[virusag13]

I have taken some college web design courses at CU and they suck! They treat you like morons because there are people in the class who have just started in the computer world and don't even own a computer. I suggest getting books from barnes & nobles and places of that sort then teaching yourself. Use the college labs for the progs at most.

 

[joohang]

Learn on your own and BUILD something.

Grab books and go through those online tutorials. Or get a good instructor like me.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Web design in itself is not enough. It may have been enough a few years ago, but not now. I taught myself HTML as a freshman in high school six years ago and have since become familiar with web design. I am currently a Junior at Georgia Tech, studying to get a degree in Business Management.

Web design has helped me in the various jobs I've had. When not in school, I work for the e-Business department of a major airline. Without my knowledge of Web design, I probably would not be where I am now. One must ask, how does Web design tie into the big picture? Well, it is part of Marketing. If nothing else, get into that.