College Knowledge

I was recently asked what percentage of college learning is actually used in the workplace.

I think there are two answers.

First, EVERYTHING you experience influences how you act, behave, think, engage and work.  Some things are more influential than others.  That beautiful sunset you saw while on vacation?  Somewhat.  That documentary you watched about high finance?  A bit more.  The older sibling you are jealous of?  Quite a lot.

The same can be said for university learning.  Does it help me if I understand the politics of the Byzantine empire?  Constantine has never come up in the workplace, and yet many of the concepts and ideas are the same as workplace politics.  

Or look at the example of Steve Jobs.  One his "big ideas" was using FONTS on a computer that were similar to typography you might see in a printed book, or a traditional calligraphy based text.  Where did he learn about this?  In a course at Reed College. You are reading this answer in TimesRoman because of that classroom experience in Portland Oregon about forty years ago.

But, and this is the second answer, if you are looking for literally transference of skills, it really depends on the work and the education.  If I am a professional translator, and I studied the langauges I use at university, perhaps 90% of what I learned is used on a frequent basis.   On the other hand, we know from professional surveys that nearly half the software engineers in the US did not have formal training in writing code, so one might assume that (if they attended college) their college course-work has not directly fostered their daily work.  But even in those cases, review the first answer, above.

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I am curious about the question behind your question.  Are you asking whether you can be successful without college?  That's QUITE a different question, and depends heavily on geography, culture, industry, age, country, gender, luck, and many other factors, including what matters to you and counts as "success".