While I was growing up, the expectation was that my siblings and I were going to go right to college after high school. That was just the path our parents laid out for us.
Even my dad, a carpenter, insisted that a post-secondary education was exactly what my siblings and I needed in order to be successful. Vocational school was never even an option.
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Inevitably, all four of us did exactly what our parents wanted — we graduated high school, kept up good grades, and obtained those high-level degrees that would lead us on the path to success.
But that “path” didn’t come without its price. All four of us currently find ourselves buried in insurmountable debt, and only two of us have managed to find full-time jobs in our field while the other two are struggling to keep their heads above water.
So we have to ask ourselves: is college really the right “path” for all of us?
The reality is a college degree doesn’t guarantee work or financial stability anymore.
According to NPR , we’re currently experiencing a severe shortage of workers, which is pushing wages higher in the same skilled trades industry that so many high school graduates are avoiding in favor of pursuing their bachelor’s.
Meanwhile, many college graduates are entering a working world with a severe lack of jobs available to them, and a less-than-substantial financial return for all their educational efforts.
Trade schools and apprenticeship programs are encouraging enrollment by insisting that college simply doesn’t make sense for everyone.
As The Atlantic reported, four in 10 adults under the age of 30 have student loan debt, and the earning potential in their fields doesn’t always offset the cost of these loans.
In fact, only two-thirds of people with degrees believe the debt was worth the education they received. While many people who graduate college can certainly make more money than those who don’t, this is only possible if jobs are available to them.
Some parents are beginning to see that perhaps not all children should be picking college over the trades.
In an op-ed piece for Scary Mommy , Katie Bingham-Smith admitted that the times have changed, and college is much more expensive now than it was when she was a student.
And even at the age of 44, she’s still paying off her loans, which doesn’t bode well for her own children’s’ future debt.
“I don’t want never-ending student loan repayment to be my kids’ life when they are my age,” she wrote. “I don’t want them to stress about how they are going to pay their student loans, while they are trying to afford a decent place to live, and have to choose between toilet paper and food because of college debt.”
Finding a job in the trades doesn’t mean completely forgoing education after high school, by the way.
Many employers still require certificates, certifications, or associate degree.s But these cost less money and require less time than earning a bachelor’s degree.
The annual salary of someone in the skilled trades industry is solid, and can most certainly increase with experience.
Upon certification, skilled tradespeople have a median income of $52,000 , and some trades offer wages even higher than that — industrial millwrights can make $99,000, while heavy-duty equipment technicians have been shown to have median incomes of around $107,000.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports that construction, along with health and personal care, will account for one-third of all new jobs through 2022.
In fact, the U.S. Department of Education reports that there will be 68 percent more job openings in infrastructure-related fields in the next five years then there are people training to fill them.
However, people continue to pick college over the trades. Why?
Well, Kate Blosveren Kreamer, deputy executive director of Advance CTE, believes this is because those people simply don’t know what else to do.
“There’s that perception of the bachelor’s degree being the American dream, the best bang for your buck,” she told NPR . “The challenge is that in many cases it’s become the fallback. People are going to college without a plan, without a career in mind, because the mindset in high school is just, ‘Go to college.'”
The Washington State Auditor recommends that career guidance, including options beyond four years in college, should start as early as the seventh grade.
“There is an emphasis on the four-year university track [in high school],” report author Chris Cortines told NPR . “Being more aware of other types of options may be exactly what [students] need.”
And if this isn’t outlined in the classroom, at least we know more and more parents are encouraging their children to consider all “paths”, not just college. As Binham-Smith wrote for Scary Mommy ,
“I want my kids to be happy and not just follow the crowd and sign up for an educational commitment that is going to cost them a ton of money simply because they think it’s what you’re supposed to do.”
h/t: Scary Mommy , NPR , The Atlantic
