Why Must Everyone Go to College?

Our country is reeling from a national scandal involving wealthy parents bribing coaches and administrators at prestigious universities to admit their children because these kids were unable to get accepted on their own merit. Why is that very expensive piece of paper so important?

College can be a rewarding experience, the source of lifelong friends. A degree is essential for entry into many professions. But without rich parents or a full-ride scholarship, earning a college degree can plunge a student deep into chasms of debt. And sometimes, unable to find a job that pays well enough to retire that debt for decades.

Some high-priced degrees don't prepare the student for any particular career. Thus, the graduate ends up working in the service industry, holding a minimum-wage job that doesn't require a degree at all.

Mired in all that student-loan debt, the graduate is financially unable to start enjoying the elements of the traditional American dream: owning a home, starting a family, indulging one's passions.

In Europe, high school students are directed toward the training that best matches their aptitudes and interests. Why force every child onto an academic path? It's demoralizing for those who are not suited, and it keeps them from developing skills in other fields where they might excel. Fields where good-paying jobs exist.

There's no stigma in many other countries for someone who attends two years of vocational school, apprentices to be a plumber, an electrician, a carpenter, a mechanic, etc., and then immediately goes to work in a lucrative profession, with very little debt. Why not encourage more technical training in America? Why can't it be more respectable to pursue careers where one can earn a decent living without an academic degree?

Arguments include, "But college provides a well-rounded education." "College should be a right." "Mine is the first generation to have the opportunity to go to college." However, many people learn just as well, if not better, outside the classroom. Some students don't even develop an interest in learning until later in life, after their formal education is finished. These days, there are countless opportunities for continuing education: reading, travel, public television programs, online webinars, professional organizations, special interest clubs, community colleges. All one needs is the basic foundation of reading, writing, and thinking—the skills that should be taught in the first twelve years of school.

I don't regret going to college, and I don't mean to sound hypocritical by implying that others shouldn't go. Just look at the price tag, and decide if you're getting good value for your money.

What are your thoughts on college? Should everyone go? I'd love to hear your comments.

Sharon Marchisello is the author of Live Well, Grow Wealth.