I just don’t think there is enough guidance at the high school level to help kids figure out what to do after high school. They only stress getting into a college when a trade school for some kids would have been a much better choice.

Guinness416 has a good point, that the “no college” route is idealized by people who did attend college. I come at this from a tiny minority, because I attended college at a profit: I turned down attending some expensive private schools I was accepted to (Harvard being the most well-known of the bunch) in order to attend a state university with massive scholarships that paid for tuition, room, board, fees, and even some extra spending money. I finished college at a profit – so I am prejudiced in favor of attending college if you can get it all paid for like I did – I think Mike (Four Pillars) is making the same general point. I do wish, however, I had wrapped it up quicker than 7 years, though.

I would hate to say that in Danny’s case – running a business – I’m not sure I would recommend college. I’m sure the world of entrepreneurs contains a fairly even mix of college graduates and dropouts (Bill Gates, etc.) – but if college made you stop a successful business I would say it was not beneficial to you.

SavingDiva hits one more good point – some people need college as part of their growing up process, and some don’t. I sure wasn’t ready to enter the working world at 18 – I wasn’t mentally prepared at all, and if I had I certainly would have floundered for a few years before finding a direction, I think.

Again, great comments, and I’ll be interested to see everyone’s take on the second part (coming out Thursday morning).

Plus, I don’t think I would be happy being a plumber…

I went to university (as we call it up here) because I had the opportunity and because I really didn’t have anything else in mind. It has definitely paid off for me since I don’t think I would be making the same coin if I hadn’t gone. And yes, post-secondary education is all about coin!!

Mike

For example there seems to be a big disparity in the cost of different institutions which should be factored in the decision of where to go to school.

Also, if you are keen to start up a business or like Danny mentioned “running a very succesful business” then you should take that into consideration as well. Why would you sell a successful business to go to school unless you thought for sure that school was a better option?

And I agree completely with Insignificant Moments above, we can discuss this til the cows come home, but even the savviest 17 year old will find it difficult if not impossible to do the cost benefit analyses of college vs work, even if we’re just talking about analyzing cold hard cash.

…would you consider adding more variables? anyhoo, i like how you set out your first 3 questions early.

Peace!

It all depends on what you studying and how realistic you are in planning your future. Of course, when you are 18 and moving out on your own for the first time, it is really hard to see the economic impact of your decision in college. I try telling my freshman sister to rule out the “soft” majors because I know that even if she gets a “B+” or “A-” GPA with a psychology degree, she would have a hard time getting a job that would pay her $30,000 a year. She would need at least a master’s degree and then she would come out owing even more money.

I always knew that the whole point of going to college was to be able to earn more money when you get out. My family does not have enough money for me to go to college just for personal enrichment. But some how that message got lost with my sister. The message she is hearing is that she needs to go to college because her big sister is a college grad.