Skip College and Get Straight to Work
So you graduated high school, you’ve done everything you can to prepare for the future. But for what? Why did you go through all of that trouble just so that you can go to more schooling? Sometimes it seems like the schooling never ends, what’s worse is you have to pay even more money, so that more people can assign you a grade for whatever level of work they think you did.
It can be maddening, but it’s required, isn’t it? Most people feel like they can’t get a good job if they don’t go to college. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, college can leave people with student loans, a lot of stress, and they sometimes can still be jobless! Not only that but it doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll get higher pay.
Fortunately there are lots of various alternatives to college. For instance take a look at the programing world. For a long time it was required that you get your degree at a good college in programming. That is slowly changing, companies are finding these days that more and more students are teaching themselves programming online. In fact, some of these self-taught students have more experience, and are more self-motivated then the guys who went to college.
To top it off, these guys didn’t have to pay for tuition. They didn’t have OT live in small little dorms, and they didn’t have to put up with all of the problems that roommates can give. Instead they comfortably worked part time jobs while they studied online.
You may be thinking that you can’t do the same, but you actually can. New places like University of the People (UoP) are available. UoP is a free online college that you can use to take a variety of classes. That means that you can do all of that college work from home, for free!
Other examples include things like Kahn Academy. You can do most schoolwork through Kahn Academy and take most courses on their as well. Best part about Kahn Academy is some of the professors are from ivy league schools! These are guys who know their stuff, but instead of having to pay $50,000 a semester, you can do the whole thing for free! Most courses offered in universities are available through Kahn.
If you still don’t want to do online free schooling, take a look at trade schools. Trade schools cost a lot less than college, plus you can generally get a well paying job right away. Take a look at local trade schools and see if any interest you, they’re a great way of getting a head start.
You can also take a look at starting your own company. Thanks to the internet it is getting easier and easier to start your own company. Start up costs are low and many markets are still growing. Just take a look around you and be creative, you’ll find that maybe you don’t need to go to college after all.
James Altucher is a national advocate for being an entrepreneur and changing the supply / demand equation of the college education system.
THANKYOU. Its nice to finally hear somebody say these things! My husband and I dropped out a year away each from our degrees and haven’t looked back! Its like we got a jumpstart on career rather than WAITING for our careers to start!
Awesome Ariel. I love your feedback!
While this is a guest post, I love the message. College is not for everyone. We have to remember this as we raise our children.
I did not go to college and I know it affected my salary in corporate America. At least I was reminded of that more than once. There was always some shame associated with that for me. Still, when I did work outside of the home, I did very well financially, I had a great paying job. The economy was also very different then.
That said, my husband firmly believes that college is nothing more than debt. There are many trades that allow you to obtain licensing and certification that do not require 4 years of schooling and large debt over your head. Aside from that, he is very entrepreneurial minded, so he believes in creating your own success. He also wishes that more high schools would prepare children better for trade school options as they graduate.
While I want my children to give great thought to their options, I am constantly reminded that college is not for everyone and not holding a college degree does NOT mean poverty. I personally know a man who holds a Political Science degree and has spent his entire professional career delivering copy paper and water bottles and he loves his job and is very dedicated to the company he works for. We all define our own success.