Opting Out of College for a Blue-Collar Life

[houseelf]

I think that we talked about assessing the cost/benefit analysis from another angle in a previous thread which posed the question "liberal arts education---is it worth it?". I opined that I wasn't really sure that it was from a strictly financial cost/benefit analysis. While education is never wasted, I do think that individuals have to be realistic. Otherwise, people will owe an unrealistic debt load.

But that is just me.

Kelly

[Rapunzel]

On the same line as the nurse/paramedic stuff:

Radiology techs do VERY nicely! DH has convinced his best friend to do the two years of training required and become a rads tech. You get $55,000 to $60,000 for two years of training post-highschool - completely worth it! Rads techs are not doing poorly on average.... (Definitely make more than most college grads with a bachelor's degree).

[Rapunzel]

One note on the nurses Davita, most nurses entering the workforce these days are BSN's. There are a lot of older nurses that do not have BSN's, but it is very hard to get into a good position without a BSN or at least that is what my sister tells me, she is currently working on her Masters.

My mom is an RN without the BS.

She doesn't have any problems finding jobs.

And, she has told me that the nurses coming out of BS nursing programs are very poorly trained - they know more about management theories than they do about actual nursing! The nurses who she says can hit the ground running are the ones who go to the nursing "tech" schools where they focus on learning the actual job skills rather than beauracratic theories and subjects completely unrelated (such as literature for example).

But, that is her opinion, of course.

[SuzySunshine]

Ok, I said more often nurses are getting BSN's. And yes, I know several older nurses or nurses that have been nurses for more than 5 years that are not BSN's. Three aunts, my grandmother, and three cousins.

My sister's experience and her two friends who are BSN's is that they have had MUCH better job offers with a BSN then without. Just like pharmacy has moved to PharmD's, nursing is moving to BSN's.

They are still out there but they are becoming the minority.

As for being poorly trained, my sister has a friend who is not a BSN nurse and my sister had more hands on clinical experience in school then her friend. I'm sure, just like everything, it depends on the school.

Just wanted to chime in and say, I had NO IDEA plumbers and A/C repair pple made so much money ... it's making me re-think my plans for after my kids are in school ... maybe *I* could repair air conditioners for a living ...

[reciprocity]

As someone with 8 years of education, and the loan payments to match, I raelly wish someone had painted a more realistic picture with regards to the employment landscape in high school (then again, I was at a magnet "college prep" school, so I guess it is understandable)

Neither of my parents had a 4-year degree, so to them, that was something I had to get. I never even realized how much I enjoyed the jobs I had to pay for college until now, when I realize I could be a co-owner of the burrito joint I worked at for four years, loving every minute of it, but to me it was always a means not an end.

I don't think it's bad to broaden the scope of acceptable options for our kids. I'd be more likely to freak out if my kid wanted to be a lawyer than if s/he wanted to be a line cook.

[Michele]

As someone with 8 years of education, and the loan payments to match, I raelly wish someone had painted a more realistic picture with regards to the employment landscape in high school (then again, I was at a magnet "college prep" school, so I guess it is understandable)

Neither of my parents had a 4-year degree, so to them, that was something I had to get. I never even realized how much I enjoyed the jobs I had to pay for college until now, when I realize I could be a co-owner of the burrito joint I worked at for four years, loving every minute of it, but to me it was always a means not an end.

I don't think it's bad to broaden the scope of acceptable options for our kids. I'd be more likely to freak out if my kid wanted to be a lawyer than if s/he wanted to be a line cook.

I agree with almost all of this. I still like my vet degree, but $100K worth?? Probably in a few years...Russ and I tell Daegan all the time that he can do anything he wants to do, except become a boxer or go to medical school.

My sister was offered a $60K/year job (2 year contract) managing a bagel shop right out of high school. I pushed her to take it but my parents wanted her to go to college. The bagel shop was 1 mile from the house....she could have lived at home for 2 years, made BANK (esp for a 18yo) and then went to college and had the experience of her dreams...course she might've stayed managing and never went to college, but she could've saved $75K by the time she was 20!

My mom never went to college and I think she regretted it, so she pushed us hard. We were getting college degrees....there was no other option. I hope not to do that to my children. There were way too many people just floundering around in college. Whether she pushed me or not, I would've ended up in college and in medicine....but my sister? I'm not sure college was the best choice for her....I know she went to college almost purely for the social aspect...sororities, parties, boys...she got a PR degree b/c she had to graduate, spent a year managing a sub shop (making far less than $60K), and finally decided to get her teaching certificate....now she has to take night classes to get a degree in teaching. I know she enjoyed those 4 years of college, but they haven't served her financially.

But money isn't everything, I guess....

I'm a teacher out on a limb. I don't have a problem with what the counsellor in the article is doing.

I strongly believe in the value of trades. It makes me sad to see a student who would be better suited to an an apprenticeship hang around wasting time at school. They can even begin their decline at this point - if their heart isn't in it or they don't have the ability, they can seriously lose motivation, not to mention faith in their own ability. Practical intelligence is not something which is generally recognised at the high school level. Starting to earn your own money at that point can really cheer a person up. There is no shame in a trade. As some of you have pointed out, they make far more than teachers, at least here in Australia. Teachers get paid a pittance!

There has been a foolish and short-sighted push here for some years towards getting more and more students into university. Not only has this devalued the undergraduate degree, but it has also left us with a serious shortage of tradespeople. It's a bit desperate, and qualified immigrants are in demand as a result!

What I'm coming at is that I believe higher education should occur when (and if) the student is ready. What is wrong with working or travelling for a few years, and coming back to study? Or doing a trade and deciding later that you are now ready to do that degree in English literature? It doesn't have to be a "now or never" thing, the way these articles so often portray it. A working life is long. Very few people stick to just one career these days, and how many kids know at 17 what they want to do for the rest of their lives, anyway? Is it worth becoming indebted over? Mature age students are much more likely to know what they want, and are more motivated to achieve it.