By: Brad Kaminicki, Jason Kodek, Thomas Lippincott
Framed college diplomas are a staple in the decor of many upper class homes. They are a symbol of pride for whoever’s name is engraved upon its paper. On top of this pride many view their colleges as a second home. It was a pivotal point in their lives which shaped and molded them into who they are today by defining their career, interests, and personal relationships. What if you took all of that away? How different would a person’s life be without the attendance of higher education and could it possibly be better? Making good money is important to many people, however there are many pathways to gaining job skills outside of going to college and these can open doors to many stable job opportunities in high demand fields.
When many people think of college the first thing that comes to mind is money. Whether you have it or not it’s still a large part of your college experience, and the consumerist nature of higher education is a large topic of debate. Those against the rising prices of a diploma will quickly cite places which have entirely state funded education at the college level, such as Norway.
According to the EU tuition costs in this Scandinavian country are just 30-60 US dollars, (European Commission, 2019) and this doesn’t just apply to native Norwegians. Any person, as long as they take up permanent residence in Norway, can receive entry into these universities at the same price. Norway comes with a double edged sword however as this all fulfilling government subsidy for education means higher taxes, and that translates to a higher cost of living.
On the WorldData website there is a list which records the average cost of living for each country and uses a cost of living index to rank countries in this category. In this list America places a reasonable 21st place with an index of exactly 100 while Norway is in a staggering 6th place with an index of 130. (WorldData, 2019) This means that while you may be getting free tuition the stereotype of a broke college student will nonetheless persist.
So how do you avoid this factor? To put it bluntly you can’t. If you aspire to go to seek higher education and you don’t have a large reserve of money then you will be in debt for many years to come. The question is will the debt be worth it in relationship to the additional money you will make with a degree.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the average high school graduate made a weekly earning of $718 while the average American with a bachelor’s degree earned $1,189 weekly (2017). This makes a difference of $471 per week which translates to roughly $24,000 additional dollars each year of spending money. The average cost of tuition in America is roughly $128,000 (Education Data, 2020) which means it will take a perfectly average college student nearly 6 years to pay off their student loans in full assuming they use all additional income to do so. Then why does it take the actually average person 20 years to pay off their debts? (Carter, 2020).
The simple answer is that no one is going to use all of their disposable income to pay off debts. That additional funding is going to only lead to an extra stop at McDonalds or a new pair of shoes when you absolutely don’t need them. This is the struggle of the college student, not just lacking money from debt but knowing what to spend it on once you have it.
There are several options other than just college. A few of those choices are: vocational school, technical school and apprenticeships. Some may be unaware of what these three choices even are. A vocational school is where students learn skills for a particular job such as construction or machining. A technical college is very similar to a vocational school. Here students will learn about a specific job or area of work within a general spectrum. Both types of schooling reward students’ efforts with certification to work the job, and a technical school can also graduate students with technical degrees. Additionally, there are apprenticeship programs. An apprentice is someone who is trained by a professional to become a skilled worker in a specific trade. If one aspires to be an electrician or plumber this might be the best choice.
One benefit of these opportunities is the cost. The cost of vocational oriented training is significantly less than going to a college or university. According to Midwest Technical Institute, the average four year college costs about 9,400 dollars per year for tuition, while a two year technical institution would cost nearly a third of that, at around 3,400 dollars per year (Trade School, 2020). Some students may also choose to live on campus which can cost several thousands of dollars more. On the website Career School Now, a trade school averages somewhere between 5,000 and 15,000 dollars for the entire program and can be completed in months, not years (“Trade school,” 2020). In the long run, college is far more expensive to get a four year degree. Vocational training and apprenticeships can begin in high school and the student has little to no cost. Apprentice Ohio notes that “Each program includes a minimum of 2,000 hours of on-the-job training and 144 hours of classroom instruction each year” (For Career, n.d.). This is a significant amount of free education.
Another benefit is time. Attending trade schools, technical institutes and apprenticeships take weeks and months whereas earning a Bachelor’s degree takes four to five years. Four year colleges like Marymount University argue that the benefits of a liberal arts degree are more valuable. They note that a liberal arts education allows students to explore many interests and ways of thinking, which opens many diverse career opportunities (Reed, 2019). In reality, not everyone has time for a four year college degree. Jan Schoonmaker, President of Florida Metropolitan University states, “For the working adult with a full-time job and, in many cases, children at home, the time commitment involved in returning to school to study massage therapy might seem like an insurmountable hurdle. Attending a four-year or even a two-year institution often appears to be a faraway dream,” (2007, p. 18). Not every person is in the right place in their lives to attend four or more years of college. Some have to support their families and some are already working jobs, they may just want something different. Because the training only takes a few months as opposed to a few years, the trade school, technical school or apprenticeship routes might be a better fit for the person.
When thinking about the immense pressure of finding a job to support yourself, those without a higher education could fear that finding a stable job is a rare occurrence. However, this is not at all the case. Wouldn’t you love to find yourself in the wonderful and high rewarding industry of throwing people’s shit out of garbage cans into you truck and driving it to the trash processing plant? No, you say? What if I told you that you would be paid close to 110,000 dollars a year to do it? (Comparably, 2020). A changed answer, I see? After researching jobs that aren’t usually the most desired, you can see that these professions are quite lucrative then what it may not seem at first glance.
However, you are not off the hook. These jobs (in most cases) require knowledge and learned traits that are not taught in a university. Take an electrician for example. At wtop.com, this profession is on their “25 Highest Paying Jobs Without a Degree” list racking in at a median salary of a whopping 55,190 dollars a year with a growth rate of 10.4% predicted for 2028 (wtop, 2020). Now, you cannot just start doing electrical work and expect to make over 50K in a year. You need to learn how to perfect the articulate details of repairing electrical powers in all sorts of locations as well as maintaining a flexible working schedule. Just like an electrician, these jobs require a lot of time and effort in order to make the big bucks you may have your eyes set on.
Nonetheless, if you do not have these certain learned traits some of these jobs will teach you them while being on the clock. Let’s take an electrician again for example. According to the same website, wtop.com, most electricians offer an apprenticeship program that can last up to four years making the same money as a real electrician just by learning the trade (wtop, 2020). In addition, while learning these traits some of these workers will start to take small gigs locally for more practice as well as earning more money on the side.
With all of that being said, if you are just looking for a part-time, minimum wage job over the summer in order to have spending money for a certain event, you can always find many signs from employers all around your neighborhood who promise an exhilarating career in the fast food industry.
A four year college degree is not always necessary; good salaries are available to people who receive alternative training and certifications from vocational schools, technical schools or apprenticeships who can fill high demand jobs. Life may get in the way of going to college but, that does not mean you should sacrifice acquiring job skills that can provide a happy life. Some students realize that college is not for them but luckily they can take advantage of vocational training and apprenticeships during high school. This way they can graduate and be prepared for employment. These paths are also available to adults at any point in their lives. No matter your decision, it is the intelligent person who has a plan to get the training and education they need for a good job.
The collaborative Op-Ed above was written by Nordonia High School seniors enrolled in College Writing 1, a dual-enrollment course with college credit awarded through Kent State University. The views expressed are of the students and not necessarily of Nordonia High School.
References
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Reed, F. (2019, September 24). 9 data-backed reasons to get a liberal arts education. Marymount University. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from https://learn.marymount.edu/blog/7-benefits-of-a-liberal-arts-education
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https://money.usnews.com/money/careers/slideshow/25-best-jobs-that-dont-require-a-college-degree