I am a Gen X-er (yes, I am old-ish) and in my formative years, the prevailing model and answer to “what will you be when you grow up?” automatically included going to college. Many of us have been groomed to believe that in order to position ourselves for and to achieve success, going to a 4-year college or university was essentially a requirement and expectation. This sentiment is still conventional wisdom to this day.

Ostensibly, a college education has been and continues to be the platform for financial stability and career success. Unfortunately, this notion is setting up many of our children and future workforce for failure and disappointment. Here’s why:

The average cost of college in the United States is currently “$35,551 per student per year, including books, supplies, and daily living expenses.” That comes to over $142,000 for four years of college education, which is no modest sum. In-state tuition can potentially lower this amount, but out-of-state and/or private universities, chosen degree, and taking longer than expected to graduate will dramatically increase the overall cost.

Regardless, the majority of low to middle-class income families and prospective students cannot afford to attend college without the help of loans. And the cost of college education is only expected to increase moving forward with the rate of tuition inflation historically tracking much higher than general inflation (typically 3.8% per year since 1960). According to the Education Data Initiative:

“…college tuition inflation averaged 4.63% annually from 2010 to 2020.”

Thus, many college graduates, as well as college dropouts, are faced with outstanding and significant debt as they enter the workforce. Purely from a “business-decision” standpoint, this begs the question of whether the ROI is justified for many families and students, relative to the earning potential a college education provides.

The median household income in the US is currently $70,784, which includes dual-income households. Assuming a student graduates with $100,000 in debt with a payoff term of 10 years at 6% interest, this student will be on the business end of making a monthly payment of $1,110. If we generously allow for this student to earn $40,000 per year coming out of college, the monthly debt service on said loan would be the equivalent of 33% of the gross income alone! If this freshly minted grad happens to earn $100,000 per year, that same loan payment is still 13% of gross, not including other monthly expenses such as rent, clothing, food, utilities, etc. You know, things we all need to survive.

In general, the value proposition of a college education doesn’t pencil out for most students, relative to the earning potential. We are not positioning our students for success but failure if they are ultimately faced with such debt coming out of the gates of Life.

This is not say that a college education doesn’t have its value: academic, social, network, camaraderie, and yes, earning potential, depending on the degree (computer science, engineering, mathematics, basically any STEM program due to the dearth of talent in these areas). If your earning potential exceeds 6-figures (approximately 34% of households), you might be able to justify attending college. But for the remaining 66%, the calculus doesn’t make much sense.

The majority of graduating students face an uphill battle from Day 1 of graduating from college. The prospect of paying off a loan only increases their headwinds in facing the challenges that Life presents. Rather than automatically advocating the notion of going to college after high school, we should encourage and endorse exploring vocational schools and programs: trades like electrician, radiation imaging, carpentry, nursing programs, or automotive technicians.

Consider this:

As a society, we should eliminate the stigma of not going to college and instead, promote alternative pathways for career success. This starts in the home, in high school, and even institutionally at said colleges and universities. If it became the norm to go to a vocational or trade school rather than the exception, perhaps we can truly position our children for success and reap the cultural and economic rewards as well.

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