Is College Necessary for a Successful Life?

<p><strong><u>Show Notes</u></strong><strong>:</strong> Drop the 1-size-fits-all standard about everyone needing college & be open to kids finding their own path to success.</p> <p>I encourage all parents and their daughters to be open to many different paths to success. Kids today are conditioned to believe there is one path that fits everyone: get good grades, go to a top college, get a good job, and make a lot of money. But that path does not fit for the majority of people.</p> <p>Dr. Jordan presents a lot of facts about the benefits and disadvantages of a four-year college degree, including economic as well as mental health issues. For example, over 60% of all US adults over 25 do not have a four year degree, 41% of college grads in their 20s are underemployed and working in jobs that typically don’t require a college degree, and only 46% of college grads in 2022 say they currently work in their field of study, i.e. jobs that do not apply the training they received in college.</p> <p>The high up-front cost of college can dig a hole that takes years to overcome—on average it takes student loan borrowers two decades to pay off their debt.</p> <p>There are <a href= "https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/04/25/605092520/high-paying-trade-jobs-sit-empty-while-high-school-grads-line-up-for-university">30 million jobs</a> in the US that pay an average of $55,000 and don’t require a bachelor’s degree; many of these jobs go to people with vocational degrees. A 2017 survey found that <a href= "https://www.agc.org/news/2017/08/29/seventy-percent-contractors-have-hard-time-finding-qualified-craft-workers-hire-am-0">70 percent of contractors</a> have difficulty finding qualified craft workers such as electricians and plumbers.</p> <p>Dr. Jordan discusses the possible answers to the question: What is the return supposed to be for your four years of college? Is it just about earning more money? Is the only purpose of an education to enable you to get a job? What, in short, is college for? These are great questions to discuss