Have you considered not going to college?

Okay, I’m about to say one of the most controversial statements in education:

Maybe you shouldn’t go to college.

I know right?  If I said this when I was teaching in a classroom, I would be in serious trouble.

Schooling in America is a big business.  Billions are spent in colleges, college prep courses, and college entrance exams.  The only way for the education complex to grow is to convince more and more students to spend more and more money on education.

High schools get their funding based on how many students they graduate and send to college, forcing them to be complicit in this scheme.

It wasn’t always a scheme.  My parent’s generation didn’t have enough professors.  They lacked classicly educated people in all professions.  There weren’t enough engineers, lawyers, or accountants.  When they were pushed into college, a college degree of any kind all but guaranteed a white-collar job with a good salary.

Now, many college degrees aren’t worth the paper they are printed on.  Teachers know this, but if they don’t steer you to college, the school can lose its credentials and they could be out of a job.

Not everyone should go to college.  Most people should consider trade school or other post-secondary education.  

Reasons you should go to college

While college is a very expensive prospect that might not be worth the money, there are some people who need to go to college.

Before we talk about why you shouldn’t go to college, let’s cover why you should.

One- you have a plan

Are you going to be an astronaut? Inventor of a new supercomputer?  Creator of the cure for cancer or the common cold?  A civil rights attorney?  President?

If you have a concrete idea of what you want to spend your life doing, and it includes a classical college education, go to college.  In fact, stop reading this article right now.  This article isn’t for you.  You know who you are and what you want.  You don’t need my permission, get to it!

Now that they are gone, let’s talk about college if you are undecided.

Two- you have a full ride

If your family or school is going to pay for everything, college is a decent place to figure out who you are.

You are on your own, have to make your own decisions, and are in a microcosm where you could be exposed to more jobs than you might have thought existed.  

College can be a lot of fun if you don’t have the pressure of student loans on your back.  If you are undecided but have financial backing of some kind, go to college.  Spend your first year exploring everything that interests you and then find a path that will make you happy.

Three- you need to be challenged

Is high school trivially easy?  Do you find yourself dissecting everything you see and hear for logic holes?  Are you most at ease when solving a complex puzzle or learning new things?

Then you need to go to college to maintain a life that will keep you happy.  

Some people need to go to college so they can find other people who will challenge them.  Being bored is no way to spend life.  

Spend some time with working-class adults.  Go work on some cars, or spend a summer building a house and see if that will be stimulating enough for you.  If it isn’t, you need to go to college.

Four- you can’t do physical labor

Most jobs that don’t involve a college degree involve using your body to some degree.  Nurses spend all day on their feet and they use their hands a lot.  Mechanics and plumbers have to squeeze themselves into tight places and use their hands for fine detail work.

As you get older, it will get harder and harder to use your body.  College will increase your working life by opening up opportunities that aren’t as physically demanding.

If you have a condition that makes using your hands or doing physical labor difficult, go to college.  

Five- you want to

If you really want to go to college, go.  

I would only advise for you to be judicious on your choice of major and university so you don’t start your working life drowning in debt.

Reasons you shouldn’t go to college   

There are only a few reasons you should go to college, but there are a thousand reasons you shouldn’t.  The many many reasons you shouldn’t go to college can be boiled down to a few main categories.

One- you aren’t interested

Are you thinking about college because your mom wants you to go… but you… don’t?  

Then don’t go.  

If you have no interest in school, college will be a tortuous 4-6 years while you earn a degree you are going to wind up not using.  If you don’t want to go to college, it is a colossal waste of everyone’s time and money. 

Don’t go if you don’t want to.

Two- you aren’t good at school

College is harder than high school.  You have no one to help you remember to get your homework done or nag you into studying.  No one will make your meals for you or wake you up in the morning.

If that weren’t enough, the classes themselves move faster and often require more memorization.

Students who are already struggling in all their classes in high school will find college impossible. 

Not good at school and still want to go to college?  Try community college.  It is cheaper, has better teachers and smaller class sizes, and you can often transfer the credits to a 4-year school when you are ready.

Three- you hate school

School doesn’t get any better.  If you actively hate school and all it stands for, please don’t waste your time in college.

Your professors won’t have any sympathy for your attitude.  College isn’t for people who hate school or the system.  Do something else instead.

Four- what you want to do with your life doesn’t require a degree

Is your big dream to own a nail salon?  Do you want to be a master chef with a 3-star restaurant?

If your dream doesn’t require a college education, don’t bother with one.  College is too expensive to be a backup plan.

Five- you don’t know what you want and don’t have the money

When my parents were in school, college was a place of discovery.  You could go, spend 4 years trying new things, graduate with a degree in art history, and land in a white-collar job making enough money to support a family.

Now college is a destination.  A specific stop on the road on a charted path.  It is far too expensive to be anything else.

If you don’t know what major you want and have no idea what you want to do with your life then don’t go to college.  Take a year and travel or work until you know what you want.  Go to community college to try the college experience for cheaper. 

Save your money until you actually know what you want.

Even if you don’t go to college, you need more than high school.

A lot of students think if you aren’t going to college, you can just fall into a job and make money.  Sorry to say that isn’t true anymore.

If you want to be more than a line cook, you need to go to culinary school.  To be a mechanic you need a certification.  Even trucking requires you to get a special license.

Not going to college doesn’t mean your education won’t continue.  You will need to go to trade school or get certifications to do what you want.  

Please consider not going to college.

College is an expensive waste of time for most students and our economy no longer rewards degrees.  You can make just as much as a plumber as you can as an engineer and you won’t have the debt to pay off in the end.