Recently, my wife and I have been talking about how going to college isn’t an appropriate goal for everyone. The college track has become too expensive and may provide too little in return for some students. There’s really no good reason why high school students “should” go to college. Frankly, the universal portrayal of the high-school graduate as being a less employable person than a college graduate is a lie. There is a huge demand for tradespeople and business owners without the need for a 4 year degree. Success stories about bootstrapping young workers skipping college to start a career are everywhere, yet still high schools across the country have focused on sending as many students as possible into college by taking away the vocational education programs they’ve offered in the past. In our opinion, this has been a disservice to the general public.
To further our point, tonight I found this article in the NY Post about the logical fallacy of the cost benefits of a liberal arts degree when compared with a skilled trade. Simply put, college isn’t what it used to be and going to one might be a big mistake for smart, hard-working teens who are considering a liberal arts education versus going to work after high school.
You can read the article here:
To be fair, there are plenty of caveats to our argument. For one, we are making a distinction between going to a liberal arts college and taking up a legitimate skilled trade. There is no argument that the college route is better in the long run than working at a convenience store, or delivering pizzas. Also, it is important to begin investing for retirement early if you do not go to college. Without a solid investment plan right out of high school, students who choose to not go to college are forgoing their most important strategic advantage and the argument for forgoing a degree diminishes rapidly.
i really never needed my degree to get any of the jobs i’ve had. good points here.