College Not For Everyone
Aloha
I have said it on this blog that a college degree may not be for everyone. One size definitely does not fit all when it comes to deciding on the route to take after graduating from high school.
This shocking statistic by Clifford Adelman, a former research analyst at the U.S. Department of Education appears to support my view.
According to him, among the students that graduated in the bottom 40% of their high schools and then entered a 4 year college directly, 66% of them hadn’t obtained their degrees 8.5 years later.
Here is another statistic that seems to back up Mr. Alderman. Research has shown that just a little above 20% of the 1.3 million high-school graduates of 2007 who took the American College Testing (ACT) examination, were ready for post high school level work in the subjects of English, math, reading, and science.
It is obvious that these students were not ready for college and this is where parents and academic counselors have to honest and offer alternatives. Rather than pushing the bachelors degree as the only way to go, these students could have been advised to do shorter training courses at a 2 year college, join an apprenticeship or even join the military.
This would have accomplish two things - (1) Prepare them for a career at less cost and (2) better prepare them academically for entry into a four-year college if they choose to go that route later.
Parents and their college-bound students need to recognize that colleges are a business and they get paid whether or not a student graduates. Therefore they need to take a more intelligent look at the benefits of going to college rather than just giving in to the gut reaction that getting a college degree is the only way to go.
Prior to college enrollment, I feel these questions should be considered carefully:
(1) Is the student presently capable of handling the rigors of college?
It makes little sense to spend thousands on a college education only for a student to drop out because he couldn’t handle the volume and difficulty of the work.
Yes, there have been students who regardless of past performances, have done well in college. However, for students who have graduated in the bottom 50% of their high school class, statistically, the odds are against them completing college successfully.
(2) Does the student need a college degree to pursue his desired career?.
Some students have an abundance of on-the-job-smarts as opposed to “academic smarts.” People like air traffic controllers, elevator installers, real estate brokers and salesmen can earn in excess of $100K annually without degrees.
(3) Is going to college something that the student really wants?
According to Harlow Unger, author of “But what if I don’t want to go to college,” there are around 50 million jobs in America that don’t require a bachelor’s degree, yet pay more than $40,000 or more annually. There is no need for parents to panic if their children don’t want to attend college because there are a fair amount of jobs available for non-degree holders.
Besides, life is filled with so many examples of people who never went to college or dropped out of college and yet, they are very successful millionaires or even billionaires. Just do a Google search for ” billionaire college dropouts” and read what comes up.
(4) Does the amount of college debt incurred justify the salary earned as a new graduate?
The average college grad earns $30,000 annually but starts out with a debt of over $20000 and in some cases, in excess of $50,000.
A student may actually be better off financially spending the four year doing an apprenticeship or working in any of the careers mentioned above rather than pursuing a 4 year degree. This is partly because he would avoided the debt associated with attending college.
Generally speaking, getting a college degree is a good career move, but the buyer must beware.
Make it a great day
David
Tags: going to college