After reading the title of this post, some of you may have had the knee jerk is-that-even-a-question-? reaction. I get it. Where I grew up, in the very affluent Johnson County, Kansas, it was the norm/expectation that you went to college right after high school.
Before I say anything else, let me be clear that I highly value education, knowledge and higher learning. I have two degrees (a B.A. in music and a B.A. in psychology) that I am very proud of, but I know people without degrees who make just as much if not more money than I do and never had any debt to boot!
I do not recommend college at all (especially not right after high school) unless the following is true:
1. You have a focused/specific career plan (doctor, lawyer, teacher, engineer etc.) Do NOT get a generic degree in something like philosophy, history, communications, etc. that will cause you to be $60,000 in debt but only make $30,000 a year! I know this because while I am proud of my degrees, they are generic and therefore left me with debt without being lucrative. Not a good investment!
2. You are very mature and can stay the course.
3. You have nearly complete to complete funding via scholarships, grants, federal aid or parental help. (Side note for parents: Do not fund your kids' college education if you have not done Dave Ramsey's baby steps 1-4 to financial freedom (Click here to learn more about Dave Ramsey's 7 baby steps). If you have the means and are debt free, great. If not, don't do it. You are not obligated to neglect your retirement savings and go further into debt to send your wishy washy teenager to college! However, if you plan on having kids, or if you already do and they are very young, get yourself started on the baby steps now so that you can potentially fund their college education, should they decide to go. If you can't help them financially, don't feel guilty. Teach them to work and save).
4. Unless your education is fully funded, you are able to take core classes at your local community college, live with your parents and/or work while going to school (without compromising your education) to save money.
With the dropout rate being so high (almost half), the continually rising cost of education and the current student loan epidemic, I think it makes much more sense to work for a few years after high school to gain experience and save some money. Experience is the best teacher after all. Besides, not many 18 year olds know for sure what career path they would like to pursue (half drop out after all). College is an awfully risky investment if you aren't completely sure about what you would like to study.
Minds change, especially when you're that young, and that's ok! So work for a few years. Who knows, maybe you'll work your way up into management by then and be making a decent wage and still be debt free! Maybe you will mature and grow and change and discover a new hobby, passion and/or career path during that time. And maybe you won't, but at least you will be wiser and debt free/have money saved (hopefully, if you live below your means and avoid credit cards like the plague). If you do decide to go the college route after this time, you will be even more sure about the decision as you had the time to mature and think about it.
Just please....avoid student loan debt. Avoid all debt. I am speaking from experience. I am now debt free, and so proud of that I could burst! But the road to get there was long and exhausting.
If you get wise with money at a young age and start saving and then investing without ever going into debt, you will be a financial force to be reckoned with! It has become my utmost passion and mission in life to inspire and remind you of that!
With the dropout rate being so high (almost half), the continually rising cost of education and the current student loan epidemic, I think it makes much more sense to work for a few years after high school to gain experience and save some money. Experience is the best teacher after all. Besides, not many 18 year olds know for sure what career path they would like to pursue (half drop out after all). College is an awfully risky investment if you aren't completely sure about what you would like to study.
Minds change, especially when you're that young, and that's ok! So work for a few years. Who knows, maybe you'll work your way up into management by then and be making a decent wage and still be debt free! Maybe you will mature and grow and change and discover a new hobby, passion and/or career path during that time. And maybe you won't, but at least you will be wiser and debt free/have money saved (hopefully, if you live below your means and avoid credit cards like the plague). If you do decide to go the college route after this time, you will be even more sure about the decision as you had the time to mature and think about it.
Just please....avoid student loan debt. Avoid all debt. I am speaking from experience. I am now debt free, and so proud of that I could burst! But the road to get there was long and exhausting.
If you get wise with money at a young age and start saving and then investing without ever going into debt, you will be a financial force to be reckoned with! It has become my utmost passion and mission in life to inspire and remind you of that!
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