College Education - Looking at it now, is it really necessary?

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/opinion/guests/1402893,012909stossel.article

Time to rethink the need for a college education
Recommend Comments

January 29, 2009

john stossel
A college diploma is supposed to be the ticket to the good life. Colleges and politicians tell students, "Your life will be much better if you go to college. On average during your lifetime you will earn a million dollars more if you get a bachelor's degree." Barack Obama, stumping on the campaign trail, said, "We expect all our children not only to graduate high school, but to graduate college."

For many kids, career counselors told us, it's often smarter to acquire specific marketable skills at a community college or technical school, or to work as an apprentice for some business. That makes you more employable.

Click on the link for the full text, but for the bottom line of the article, I just had to post it:

Vocational education pays off for many. Electricians today make on average $48,000 a year. Plumbers make $47,000. That's more than the average American earns. But some people look down on vocational school. A degree from a four-year college is considered first class. A vocational-school degree is not.

"More people need to realize that you don't have to get a four-year degree to be successful," says Steven Eilers, who went through an automotive program and then continued his education by getting a paying job as an apprentice in a car-repair center. He's making good money, and he has zero student-loan debt.

Eilers' story is no fluke. In the past year, while hundreds of thousands of white-collar jobs vanished, the auto-repair industry added jobs.

Self-serving college presidents and politicians should drop the scam. Higher enrollments and government loan programs may be good for them, but they are making lots of our kids miserable and poor. For many, the good life can be lived without college.

John Stossel is co-anchor of ABC News' "20/20" and the author of "Myth, Lies, and Downright Stupidity."

I feel the same as the author wrote concerning 4 year colleges, unless you tend to be a lawyer or doctor. I'm all for vocation/trade schools. Several of my cousins went that route, and make more money than those who held bachelor degrees.

How do you guys feel about this, considering our economy today?

Oh I agree 100%. I saw this report and was shocked to see others agree. I've been saying the same thing for years now. I have 3 kids, only one went to college and now can't find a job in the field he studied. He makes less than the other 2 that didn't go to college. His final bill for college is over $35,000. He will be old and grey before he pays it off.

party42 wrote:

I have 3 kids

The union trades have aschool to work program that will take a kid that might not get to college but is willing to work hard and puts them into an apprenticeship program where they get hands on training in whatever field they are interested in.

The important point in all of this is to have encouraging parents.

As of right now I am facing about $13000 in student loan debt. Graduating in a little more than a year I figure I will be up around the $18000-$20000 range. I consider myself very fortunate. So many others will end up owing so much more than I do. The problem is that my generation simply does not know how to handle their finances. I shake my head in disbelief at friends of mine who have racked up so much on their credit cards and allow themselves to go into financial ruin. The way I see it, my worst case scenario is that I live at home for an extra year or two.