Forcing Your Kids To Go To College Is Stupid
“That was way harsh, Tai.” Hell of a title you’ve got there!
Okay, maybe that title was a harsh way to start, so let’s actually begin with facts that contradict my statement:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in August 2019 that the unemployment rate for people with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher was at 2.1%, while 3.6% of High School graduates were unemployed.
We also know from the data that the average High School Graduate makes around $35k per year, while the average person with a Bachelor’s Degree will make an average of $59k.
We see these statistics, and it seems like a no-brainer - earn a college degree and you’ll be on a gold-paved path to the best life possible. However, what about the money that it costs to get to the higher income and lower unemployment rate? Where does that factor into these average salaries?
The national student loan debt currently averages at $37k per student, according to the U.S. National Debt Clock, with the total student debt climbing at the rate of nearly $100,000 every single minute.
Read that again. $100k PER MINUTE!
And that $37,000 per student...ha! I know people who would GLADLY trade their $50k-$100k debt in for that “national average”.
In a perfect world, you’d grow up with financially stable parents who saved your whole life for you to go to the college of your dreams. You would graduate with a degree, and go into the career of your choice. Then, you’d make a beautiful $59k salary that all the statistics promised you.
You’d have no student loan debt, you’d get a job in your chosen field a week after graduation, and you’d be livin’ the life.
Reality check.
That lifestyle is up there with unicorns and cotton-candy clouds for most of us. Millennials and Gen-Zers were raised with this rose-colored idea preached to them by society, but without the cushy 529 account and a field-of-study that guarantees a lucrative career.
As Millennials, we were taught,
“Go to college and you’ll be successful.”
“You’ve gotta spend money to make money.”
“Rich people have college degrees.”
We weren’t taught about the repercussions of getting that degree. We weren’t taught that student loans can be suffocating, that they can delay you from buying a home, having children, or hell, even buying groceries.
We weren’t taught that you would have to work at this “degree-required” job for up yp 10 years to just break even on the cost of said degree. We were only taught to turn up our noses to any and all career fields that “only required a high school diploma”.
Can we even really blame our parents for raising us this way when we realize that back in the 80s you could pay for your degree with a minimum wage job? In 1987 an average undergrad degree cost about $39k, while in 2016 the average rose 161% to $103k.
Raise your hand if you grew up hearing “Work your way through college.”
You heard that because in the 80s you could statistically work a part-time minimum wage job and pay for 106% of your tuition, while in the 2010s you’d only be able to pay for 68% of your tuition with the same type of job. Leaving Gen-Xers typically with no student loan debt, but Millennials and Gen-Zers buried in more like $30k to $60k of debt.
These numbers were completely unknown to me in 2006 when I was a college freshman. I was a first-generation college graduate. My sisters and I all graduated with degrees and were taught for as long as I can remember that a degree equaled a strong independent woman.
In our household we were expected to save 10% and invest 15% of our paychecks as early as our high school jobs. We were taught to work hard, get an education, and only get married if we wanted to. My parents wanted me to rely on myself and not a man. I get that 100%! I’m now a mother to 3 young women and I desire the same for them - but is college a MUST for this dream to be a reality?
My husband, has a different story. In his family, graduating high school was a solid achievement. Keeping a steady job and driving a nice vehicle equaled success. College wasn’t considered or encouraged. After high school he’d move out, work full-time, and start a family.
My parents were terrified that I’d end up pregnant, uneducated, and poor, like so many generations of women before me had. I clearly remember a lecture my dad gave me when I was 16 where he said, “Do you want to end up barefoot, pregnant, and just be somebody’s wife?”
Why are you always “barefoot and pregnant” in these conversations - pregnant women can wear shoes...who knows!?
I went to college and got a degree in History, and my husband went to work on the boats. He didn’t want to be poor and I didn’t want to be uneducated. We made it work. He helped me pay my way through college, but we both knew that as soon as college ended, we’d start a family and I would raise my children at home.
To me, I didn’t get a college degree to seek a higher paying career, I got it simply because I was told to.
I knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom and an entrepreneur of some sorts. I knew I wouldn’t use my degree, but I also had the fear that if I ever found myself divorced or widowed, I could end up in a bad spot without an education.
That fear pushed me through 4 years of college and eventually across a university stage with a 10-week baby bump under my gown.
My husband still works on the boats, grossing over $100k per year with a 401k and health insurance - all with a high school diploma.
I still stay home with our three daughters, run my online business and podcast in my spare time, and have yet to make any real contributing income for our family - all with a Bachelor’s degree.
The reality is, a degree won’t serve you life on a silver platter. It won’t guarantee you a 6-figure income, or a happy life. On the other hand, going through life with only a good work ethic and a High School diploma won’t guarantee that you’ll up in the welfare line either.
You have to weigh your options, do your research, and take into account the cost of college versus the income you could potentially earn.
Major publications such as Forbes are joining the conversation and getting onboard with this approach for the next generation, suggesting that we weigh our education options like we would any other financial investment.
I say, consider if you, or your child, truly wants to go to college. Is the push for a degree coming from a place of fear for the future or is it needed for the life you aspire to have?
Although, I’m grateful for my education and for my parents raising me to be an independent woman, I don’t plan on forcing my daughters into college. I’ll encourage them to be educated, hard working, and independent. I’ll encourage them to aspire to wealth and greatness. I’ll also have a savings account waiting for them when they’re done with high school.
My husband and I refer to the money as “launching funds” that they’ll be allowed to use to finance their futures. Whether that be a traditional 4-year university, starting a business, or a down-payment on their first home. That money will be there to help them start their adult lives on a strong foundation that fully supports their dreams, not their parents’ fears.
Sami Womack is the brains behind A Sunny Side Up Life. Her weekly podcast has been downloaded over 100,000 times, and she has been featured on The Purpose Show with Allie Casazza, The His & Her Money Show, and The Mother Like A Boss Podcast. When she’s not downing coffee and rocking a little girl on her hip, she’s creating content, collaborating with finance organizations, and inspiring women to live an intentional life.
She began this journey with husband and a debt price tag of $490,000. They took control of their finances by downsizing, budgeting, and changing habits. From this experience, A Sunny Side Up Life was born.