As an unrepentant J-school grad, I’d like to weigh in on Kevin and Steve’s exchange by pointing readers to a Phi Beta Cons post I wrote two years ago. The short version is that while you can be a journalist without a journalism major, and while journalism degrees should take two to three years (instead of four) to earn, studying journalism in the classroom is useful.

Also, a quick update to that post: In the last two years, journalism jobs have become a lot more scarce. I highly recommend that today’s journalism majors earn a second major as well — a practical one that can stand on its own if journalism doesn’t work out.