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Can I afford to send my children to college? This question helped me see other options.

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6 months ago

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Can I afford to send my children to college? This question helped me see other options.

While President Biden keeps forgiving student debt, many of us know a college degree isn’t always worth it.

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As my eldest child started high school, I started noticing the cost of college. It seemed like a lot. As each year went by, the price only rose. At the same time, this particular child − I have four − wasn’t all that interested in college.

But I still figured he should go. Everyone does, right? Especially in this economy. We want our kids to have the best start in life, and a college degree paves the way, doesn’t it?

This child started to express interest in trade school, but I felt hesitant. There are few six-figure jobs waiting on the other side, and they’re physically demanding. They’re also not very glamorous. I asked myself a question that was hard to answer. If my child became a plumber rather than a pediatrician, would I be embarrassed? Would I be proud of that? Did either of those things matter?

The cost of college has become prohibitive

The cost of college is too prohibitive for many students and their families. There’s also a need in the labor market for skilled blue-collar workers.

In 1980, the cost to attend a four-year college full-time was $10,231 annually, covering tuition, fees, room and board. Now, the cost of college at a public institution is almost $40,000 a year, per student.

Few students and parents can afford to pay for college with cash. Every year, up to 40% of all undergrads get federal student loans, and 70% of students who receive a bachelor’s degree have some kind of education debt after graduation.

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When parents like me factor in multiple children just a couple of years apart, the cost feels insurmountable and discouraging. You start asking yourself: Is there a better way?

There are only three options: Split the cost of student loans, let the child take on loans themselves, or cover the loans and push back retirement.

The allure of getting a college degree

For many students, the choice to attend college begins with a sense of cynical hope.

If they take on debt, they have to hope to earn a degree and get a job that hopefully pays enough to pay off that debt. Hopefully, someday, they’ll work a dream job that earns enough money to pursue other dreams and things like family, vacation, retirement and home ownership.

This means parents agonize over these scenarios with their high school students, just like I am.

More Americans think a college degree isn’t worth the cost

I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking twice about the importance of college, especially for careers that might not require a degree, such as becoming a doctor or attorney.

The U.S. white-collar job market is in a downturn. Professional and business services only added 7,000 jobs in March, and college graduates are struggling to land jobs.

Half of college graduates are underemployed.

The extraordinary cost of college, coupled with the lower chance of getting a higher-paying job that made college necessary in the first place, is changing American minds about the value of college.

According to the Pew Research Center, just 1 in 4 adults say it’s extremely or very important to have a four-year degree in order to get a well-paying job. About half say it’s less important to have a four-year college degree today in order to get a well-paying job than it was 20 years ago. Just 22% say a college degree is worth getting even if students have to take out loans.

That last number is far lower than I thought it would be.

I also was surprised to learn − although maybe I shouldn’t be − that opinions about college differ by political ideology. More Republicans than Democrats recognize it’s not as important to have a four-year college degree in order to get a well-paying job.

The American blue-collar gap is real

If you’re a student or the parent of a student who can’t afford college, doesn’t want to carry the weight of student debt, or simply isn’t wired for college, there are alternatives.

There is a shortage of men and women willing to do skilled labor, not because it doesn’t pay well but because blue-collar industries still do not get the respect of white-collar employment, although this may be slowly changing.

Last spring, the Department of Labor reported that the construction industry added about 129,000 job openings that February, despite the nationwide overall rate of job openings declining 6% in a month.

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By 2027, the United States is expected to be short of plumbers by about 550,000.

The point is: If your kid doesn’t want to pay $160,000 for college, he might be able to find work in a trade easier and for less money upfront.

Statistics show that learning a skilled trade will improve earnings, rather than just working in traditional blue-collar employment. This is an important distinction.

The average college graduate salary in Texas, for example, is nearly $60,000 a year, up to $85,440 for experienced positions. The annual salary range for a skilled trade job is from $63,809 to $79,488 in Texas.

Nationwide statistics differ slightly. Trade school graduates earn a median annual salary of $67,149. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree ages 22-27 earn the median of $60,000 a year.

Some kids are already latching onto this idea: Enrollment in trade-related studies has increased 16% from 2022 to 2023.

Biden’s student loan forgiveness exacerbated white-collar elitism

Earnings and reputation are two things that have contributed to a skilled labor gap. The Biden administration hasn’t helped shift skilled labor bias much either. This is why many people were outraged after the president declared he’d forgive billions in student loan debts.

The cost of paying for this is deferred to blue-collar workers without college degrees, even though they purposely chose not to attend college.

If that kind of promise doesn’t smack of elitism, what does?

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What’s best for you and your kid?

A lot of the ongoing discussion and anxiety around college and its cost, at least for parents, is really about helping our kids achieve their dreams. This is why the cost of college matters. It’s not only about money but determining the best avenue to make their dreams real.

If your child always wanted to be an astronaut, how can they do it if you can’t help them pay for college?

It took a while for me to make peace with the idea that one or more of my kids might not attend college. Over time I realized that perhaps it was my dream for them. But the goal is for my children to make their own dreams come true, whatever they are.

Sometimes the discussion about college becomes tense and fraught because we want to prevent our kids from making the mistakes we made. Employment and money are tied to self-worth for so many people. If my child can’t get a job and earn money, what then? Have I failed him or has he failed himself? These are existential ideas hinging on, or supposedly hinging on, one question about college. But life’s success doesn’t really hinge on this one thing.

My children all have their own journey to make just like I did. They will need to make mistakes. They will need to self-correct. They will make good and bad decisions. These are things we have to let go the older our children get. But part of the journey is deciding whether it includes college and loans or trade school and a solid pair of working boots.

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids.

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