Leah Bell is on a mission to challenge what we’re traditionally told about college and what it takes to be successful.
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There is a ridiculous notion that the smart kids go to college and the ones who do not won’t amount to anything. This is exactly why so many students go to college. They don’t want to be seen as dumb or lazy. They think college is the only way to success.
The number of students enrolled in college in 2011 almost tripled since 2001.
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How accurate is this picture when we have college graduates working for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a college dropout? College graduates work for Bill Gates, another college dropout. The same goes for Steve Jobs. You get the picture.
Don’t get me wrong. If my son aspires to be a teacher, a doctor, a counselor, or another profession that requires a college education, I will support him. I want him to be happy. But if he is just looking to find a way to financially support himself and a family one day, I will not encourage the college route. In fact, I will encourage him not to go. As you pick your jaw up off the floor, I will explain.
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1. The cost of college is climbing at a rapid rate.
A study shows that the cost of tuition at a public institution increased 131.4% from 1982 to 2012. At private institutions, it increased 130% in the same timeframe. If that was the increase in thirty years, we are looking at a similar jump in the next seventeen years before my son would enter his freshman year.
If I were to start saving now for his college based on the current amount of tuition, he would only have about half. He would need to take the rest of the money out in student loans.
2. The number of students enrolling in college is growing.
The number of students enrolled in college in 2011 almost tripled since 2001. At this rate, how many students will be enrolled in 2021? In 2032 (when my son would be entering college), how many other students will be competing with to get into a good school? Even worse, how many other graduates will he be competing with to find a job?
3. The median family income has not increased at a similar rate.
While tuition has risen approximately 130%, the median family income only increased 10.9% between 1982 and 2012. As prices for education, food, gasoline, etc. continue to rise at a rate that doesn’t match pay increases, more and more college graduates are forced to take second jobs or delay life events, such as marriage or children, in order to make large payments for student loans and other expenses.
4. If lenders continue to hand out student loans like candy at a parade, the college debt bubble is going to burst.
We saw it with real estate. When lenders freely hand out loans, the system eventually collapses. I don’t want my son to be enrolled in a college only to have the lending bubble burst. How would this affect him? If lending is restricted, fewer students will enroll in college, which means the college isn’t receiving the payments they were used to receiving. This will cause many colleges to close. Transferring isn’t an easy process. Sometimes credits won’t transfer which can result in a lengthier stay in college. This means more loans.
5. I don’t want him to be miserable and stressed like so many other men I know.
My husband is exhausted. My dad was exhausted. My friends’ husbands are exhausted. Work is an inevitable part of life. However, when you work for someone else, you’re salary is capped and you spend all day with other stressed individuals. This makes it hard to be happy. The “nine to five” isn’t 9:00am until 5:00pm anymore. Jobs have a 7:00am or 8:00am start time. Bosses require that you stay late more often. To cut costs, they hire fewer employees and have them take a larger workload. Our society lives to work.
6. I want him to benefit from his strengths.
If he is a gifted writer, salesman, marketer, manager, educator, etc., I want him to reap the benefits of those gifts. I want him to know that he is capable of doing anything he puts his mind to, not just what a manager tells him to do. In the world we live in, there are more opportunities than ever before to make an income on your own. I want him to challenge himself and gain 100% of the outcome.
7. Instead of filling one job position, I want him to create multiple job positions for others.
When we have debt and live paycheck to paycheck, our lives are spent treading water.
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As more students go to college, it will be even tougher for graduates to find jobs among the rising competition. If more entrepreneurs rose, there would be more job opportunities for those who attended college. I want to encourage him to create a work environment where employees are challenged but happy. I want him to be able to provide a positive work experience for others, something that is rare today.
8. I want him to have the ability to spend his years in a way that he won’t regret.
When we have debt and live paycheck to paycheck, our lives are spent treading water. Parents don’t have as much time to spend with children. Marriages have tension or may end in divorce. Looking back, people have so many regrets. I don’t want that for my son. He only gets one life.
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He will make mistakes. I can’t shelter him from bad choices and pain. But I can question the route that so many take, do my research and guide my son the way I believe is best. Every parent does. But this is my attempt to set him up for success. I hope you question the norms for your children, too.
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Fast Facts – National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, www.nces.ed.gov
Heidi Shierholz, Natalie Sabadish, and Nicholas Finio, “The Class of 2013: Young Graduates Still Face Dim Job Prospects,” www.epi.org, Apr. 10, 2013.
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Photo: Flickr/ Devon Christopher Adams
Very good article. I actually knew early on that college wasn’t for me. Both my brother and I, actually, as we both grew up with severe learning disabilities, developmental issues, and struggled with school. I just barely made it through high school. My brother dropped out but eventually got his GED. We both work physical manual labor jobs which is what we prefer anyway. Working with our hands. My sister, (the smart one,) went to college and became a speech therapist. While she was able to find a job pretty readily, she has a huge amount of student debt that… Read more »
Thank you for sharing, David! I’m glad you and your brother enjoy your jobs and that your sister was able to find a job in her field quickly. It’s sad that people have to pay so much money to do a job that they want to do, especially a job which helps so many people such as a speech therapist. And the reality is that these jobs will cost more and more as the years go by.
What an amazing and eye-opening article. Thank you for putting this out into the world, for planting the seed of thought surrounding this issue. 🙂
Thank you, Elizabeth! I hope to at least prepare people for the realities post-graduation. The worst part of these numbers is that no one expects to have it so hard after getting the piece of paper that should bring success. Thanks for reading!