Why a financial education is more valuable than a university one

For those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, who struggle to fund university, apprenticeships offer a fantastic route into work. The educational system therefore needs to invest more effort into promoting apprenticeships and training courses as a viable alternative to university.

As a CEO and entrepreneur, who dropped out of school at 16, I personally find the current emphasis on the necessity of a university education incredibly frustrating. My own experiences indicate that hard work and a bottom up financial education are far more valuable in ensuring business success and long term economic security.

The serial entrepreneur who’s partied with Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion

I had a relatively traumatic childhood, which limited my educational prospects. As such, I was forced to attend 30 different schools during my education. This tumultuous upbringing resulted in me leaving school at 16 with no qualifications. As a university education wasn’t much of an option for me, I was forced to find an alternative route to success. I invested in practical training with qualified mentors and hands-on experience.

From cleaning the floor of Woolworths, I worked my way up the ranks to become the CEO of a Malaysian company called Public Company, Tanco Resorts BHD and took that company to a billion dollars within three years, breaking the world sales record in the entire industry. In addition to this, I became an entrepreneur in 2009 and started a business from scratch with no capital. This business made £9m in its first year, enabling me to go on to build several multi-million dollar companies from scratch and invest my wealth in property culminating in winning the People’s Choice Best Real Estate Investment Company in 2015 and writing two bestselling books on the topic.

I achieved all of this, without academia or any official qualifications. All that was required was hard work, dedication and the realisation that the only person who was going to get me what I wanted was me. My story is not unique either, as you’ll know some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and innovators didn’t go to university.

My personal opinion is that university doesn’t offer a good return on investment. As an international CEO, I employ people all over the world and I am often far more impressed by those who have gained hands on training in their respective industries, than a degree. In my experience, hard work and training is a far more valuable tool for future success. As such, I am an advocate of apprenticeships, hands on experience and most importantly qualified mentors with a proven track record.

Whether it was because they came up with a great idea for a business while they were studying, or just felt the process wasn’t for them, some of the most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders of recent times never got the chance to don a cap and gown at graduation.

Marco Robinson is a number one bestselling author. His latest bestselling book, “The Financial Freedom Guarantee” which teaches a proven blueprint on how to be financially independent, can be accessed here.

Share this story