Is college necessary?
College isn’t for everyone, despite popular thinking that career and financial success are something of an impossible dream without a college degree.
Now, according to The New York Times, a group of economists and educators are advancing the idea of a no-college pathway to success, aimed at students who are not ready to take on college or are unlikely to be successful there.
It’s an interesting argument, as higher-education costs continue to spiral out of control and the payoff for a hard-earned college degree doesn’t seem to keep pace in this economy.
The group argues that college degrees aren’t necessary for many jobs ? including a number of positions in the rapidly growing health care field. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just seven of the 30 jobs projected to grow at the fastest rate in this nation over the next decade typically require a bachelor’s degree.
As an alternative to college, the experts are advancing the idea of intensive, short-term vocational and career training, by way of expanded high school programs and apprenticeships.
Naysayers don’t like the idea of lowering expectations for students, and point to statistics that show people with college and graduate degrees generally earn more than those without them and face lower risks of unemployment.
But consider another side of the argument: According to the Times, perhaps no more than half of those who began a four-year bachelor’s degree program in the fall of 2006 will get that degree within six years. Perhaps skipping college altogether does make more sense than failing at it.
The good news is that service members transitioning out of uniform possess an array of skills and attributes desirable to many employers, with or without a college degree. If you’re on the fence about college, give the working world a go before you invest perhaps unnecessary time and money in a college degree. You can always return to the classroom. But you may not be able to regain the time and money spent on a degree that does you little good in your professional life.
