HARD HATS OR GRADUATION CAPS?

By JESSE BARRINGER

Eight hundred and forty days. One hundred and twenty weeks. Eight semesters spread out across four years. 138,960 dollars. That is how much the average student spends, in both time and money, earning a degree at a four year university.

Since its debut with the first American college in 1636, universities and colleges have acquired the reputation of being considered ‘the thing to do’ upon graduating high school. At the beginning of 2018 the National Center for Education Statistics claimed that, “the number of students projected to attend American colleges and universities in the fall of 2018 is 19.9 million” students. In addition, a 2016 statistic from The United States Department of Labor shows that “69.7 percent of 2016's high school graduates enrolled in college.”  69.7 percent of college attendees will go on to make an average of $65,000 a year, according to an article from United States Education News.

JESSE BARRINGER FOR THE WIZARD WEEKLY

What about the other 30.3 percent of high school post graduates? What happens to them? Are they homeless? Unemployed? Still alive? You might be surprised to know that the 30.3 percent who decided not to go to college are, in some cases, doing even better than the 69.7 percent that did. How is that possible, though? Well, for starters, those 30.3 percent don’t owe $37,172 in student loans after college. They also have about 13 million good paying jobs waiting out there for them that don’t require a four year college diploma. Once again, in an article from the United States Education News, it is stated by researches that the definition of these ‘good paying’ jobs translates to about $35,000 to $56,000 a year. This is a pretty high indicator that these anti-college graduates are not, in fact, living in the dumpsters.

What the article, entitled 3 Million Good Jobs Available for Those With High School Diplomas, does not say about these high school graduates is that there is actually a really high demand for jobs in the trade business that sometimes pay more than what college graduates are obtaining. Most of these employment opportunities do not even require trade school experience. For example, an owner or executive of an average American landscaping business acquires about $89,180 per year in total salary. The pay can be even higher for those who do decide to attend a trade school for two years.

There are many people who feel as though students do not need to attend college to become successful contributing members of society. In fact, one of Washingtonville High School's teachers, Mrs. Hartford, who teaches Marketing/ Career and Finance, shared a little bit of her own perspective on the matter.  She expressed that she believes, "parents push a lot of kids into areas they want to see them in.  For example, a doctor or a lawyer; they think that’s the only way they can make some money.” This notion is actually not true. Professions other than these are quite lucrative as well.  Mrs. Hartford went on to say that “plumbers charge $200 - $300 an hour sometimes because, again, they're the only people out there to do those jobs."  This couldn't be more accurate.  

With so many jobs available out there for students with no more education than a high school diploma, it begs the question, does everyone need to attend college to be considered successful in the workforce?  You be the judge.