Seven Reasons Not to Send Your Kids to College (med school, graduates, nurses)

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I was reading an article once that said you are reall not supposed to use a residential phone for your business. Theoretically, you are supposed to install a business line. Lots of people do use their home phones for business.

Some costs of a home office can be written off, but the deductions have become more limited over the years.

That's only a phone company rule, because they charge more for a "business line". The general rule is, if you put your phone number in the Yellow Pages, or if it is listed in the name of a business, the phone company will assess it as a business line, and charge you out the kazoo for it.

But there is absolutely no restriction, even at the phone company, that says you cannot use a regular household phone in the running of a business. I've done it.

[skoro]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

See full article from DailyFinance:

Imagine a retirement where you could have an extra $1million to $3 million in the bank with basically no effort. Now imagine telling your kids that you aren't going to send them to college. And, you go on, you want them to immediately start a business or get to work as soon as they finish high school.

These are difficult things to imagine because we've been so scammed by the "career industry" that tells us we need college degrees in order to succeed in life, regardless of how much money we spend for those degrees or what we actually do with our lives during the four to eight years it takes us to get those degrees.

Very lame article, probably just meant to stir the pot.

If you're of the same opinion as the author, that college is a waste of time, then don't go to college. Discourage your kids from furthering their educations, too.

College truly isn't for everyone. No one is forced to attend.

[socstudent]

Originally Posted by skoro

Very lame article, probably just meant to stir the pot.

If you're of the same opinion as the author, that college is a waste of time, then don't go to college. Discourage your kids from furthering their educations, too.

College truly isn't for everyone. No one is forced to attend.

Exactly. One of the reasons college grads are having such a hard time finding jobs now is because so many people have degrees. College is expensive but it's one of those things that not everyone is supposed to be able to afford. If you really wanted to go to college and you didn't have the money you would work hard, get good grades and get scholarships, but no one wants to put in the effort if they can just complain. Of course I'm sure it's even harder out there for those who are uneducated, but we'll always need garbage collectors

[tban]

Originally Posted by sheena12

Well I am prepared for the attack that will be sure to follow, but I am happy to say that my teens are not given such a choice. they are going to college. Period. We can decide together what college or university will be best, What major will be appropriate, and where they want to attend. We, (and I say we because this is not a decision that a teenager should make on her own) together will choose the best college plan. It will involve going away to school and it will involve four years of college. My teens will work summers and will contribute in some way. However I feel fortunate that I am in a position to be of assistance, financially speaking, as well as in other ways.
Attendance at a four year college is pretty much requisite for entry into a middle or upper middle class life. Notice I say "life'" not "job." I do not wamt anything less for my children.
Yes there are success stories - but they are few and far between. That os why these same names are repeated over and over. They are the exception and not the rule.
Does going to college guarantee success? Of coarse not. But not going is a sure fire ticket to ignominy.

Originally Posted by jtur88

Until their 18th birthday, on which day they can choose to follow the Grateful Dead if they want to, and there isn't a damned thing you can do about it. Unless you have them so thoroughly brainwashed that even in adulthood, they will continue to march in obedient lockstep with whomever they perceive as being authoritarian figures. You haven't painted a very pretty picture.

I wouldn't ordinarily have responded in this way, but in your post, you went on line after line hammering away at the idea that your children WILL do what you have designed for their entire lives. When they discover that they have minds of their own, you have increased the probability that they will become Deadheads, if not serial killers, just out of pure spite. It's the same syndrome that makes the preacher's daughter the loosest girl in town.

I'm glad you were prepared for that attack.

I agree with jtur88. If you raised your kids right, you wouldn't have to baby them so much when they are in college. They are there to experience life and prepare for their future.

Let them make the mistakes and learn from it. Get them exposed to different careers while they are young. I would never force a career on my kids. I may give them suggestions and tell them they have a potential in that field but I will never force them.

[ambient]

Originally Posted by TouchOfWhimsy

If minimum wage in your area is $8 (which is higher than the current Federal minimum wage), then working 2,000 hours per week makes you $16,000 per year. All of these make more than double what you would make if you had a minimum-wage job, and none require a Bachelor's degree. Obviously incomes vary widely by area, company, time in the field, etc, but I have included ballpark estimates:

Sign installation (60K)
Dental Assisting (35K)
Administrative Assistant (varies widely; ten years ago, I made 32K)
Freelance Writer (varies widely; I currently gross between $35 and $50 per hour and have been doing this for 2 years)
Small Business Owner (varies widely, definitely could make 100K+)
Landscaper (I pay $25 for about a half hour's worth of mowing and trimming... figure in transportation time between houses as well as chatting time with his clients, and assume he is making $25/hr, gross)
House Cleaning ($80-100 gross for 2-3 hours of work)
Car Audio Installation (40K)

These are just off of the top of my head, in fields that I have experience in, either because DH or I (or my parents) worked in those fields, or because I employ someone who works for him/herself in these fields. If I can come up with this list in 5 minutes, I'm sure a much more comprehensive list can be made up if you really think about it.

I suppose some of those are viable...but if you have a family and you're the only one working, working for $30-$40Ks is going to be pretty tough; you're not going to get too far on that. Just think about funding kids, a home, a retirement down the line...it takes a lot.

To put it into perspective, I started working in the low $40Ks when I was a 21 year old kid straight out of undergrad a decade ago (with no debt, by the way). And that was about par for the course for my major (economics). In my early 30s today, I'm at well over twice of what I started - and I still have a lot of room to grow, career-wise. My wife, who is younger than me, does even better. None of this would have been even remotely likely for us without college educations. We'd probably be lucky to make a third of what we each bring home today.

[TouchOfWhimsy]

Originally Posted by ambient

I suppose some of those are viable...but if you have a family and you're the only one working, working for $30-$40Ks is going to be pretty tough; you're not going to get too far on that. Just think about funding kids, a home, a retirement down the line...it takes a lot.

To put it into perspective, I started working in the low $40Ks when I was a 21 year old kid straight out of undergrad a decade ago (with no debt, by the way). And that was about par for the course for my major (economics). In my early 30s today, I'm at well over twice of what I started - and I still have a lot of room to grow, career-wise. My wife, who is younger than me, does even better. None of this would have been even remotely likely for us without college educations. We'd probably be lucky to make a third of what we each bring home today.

While I agree with you that it would be difficult to raise a family on $30-40K, the original premise was that if you want to make more than minimum wage, you need a college education.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by socstudent

Exactly. One of the reasons college grads are having such a hard time finding jobs now is because so many people have degrees. College is expensive but it's one of those things that not everyone is supposed to be able to afford. If you really wanted to go to college and you didn't have the money you would work hard, get good grades and get scholarships, but no one wants to put in the effort if they can just complain. Of course I'm sure it's even harder out there for those who are uneducated, but we'll always need garbage collectors

No, college grads are having a hard time finding a job because the economy is in the tank. There are few jobs to be had for anyone. When I graduated from college it wasn't unusual to have several offers for jobs coming out of college because the economy was booming, companies were growing and they were struggling to keep up with demand because of that growth. If the economy was good today, college students would find a similar situation.

[jerseygal4u]

Someone mentioned nursing above. Here is my take on it. The nursing community itself is struggling to redefine nursing. I believe,until otherwise proven, that nursing is a trade. Lpns go st school for one year and make 45,000 a year,or about 20 an hour. An and rn in my state only makes 2 to 3 dollars more than an lpn and most hospitals don't pay any more for a bachelors. Yes,that's right nothing. An associates degree rn and a bachelors rn make the same amount of money. As a matter of fact,I know several associates degree nurses who make more than bachelor educated rn's. In my own experience,I have had lpns,who have less schooling than my bsn,who made more than me,and on top of they were my supervisors,and all because they had expereince.

So if I went to lpn school and came out with no student loans vs the bachelors in nursing and 45,000 in debt,and no additional pay to reflect my advanced degree(maybe 2 doolars more per hour) who came out the winner?

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by CosmicWizard

See full article from DailyFinance:

Imagine a retirement where you could have an extra $1million to $3 million in the bank with basically no effort. Now imagine telling your kids that you aren't going to send them to college. And, you go on, you want them to immediately start a business or get to work as soon as they finish high school.

These are difficult things to imagine because we've been so scammed by the "career industry" that tells us we need college degrees in order to succeed in life, regardless of how much money we spend for those degrees or what we actually do with our lives during the four to eight years it takes us to get those degrees.

Lopsided hack-job of an article. Either that or the writer should have taken more math and finance classes because that analysis wouldn't qualify them to make the coffee in my office.

Some people shouldn't go to college, get junk degrees and wayyyy overpay.
Doesn't seem to be a viable position to try to expand that to all college.

My oldest son, if he were 18 right now...I could have him through JUCO and then finish up at a 4-year university for <50k by living at home and then start him working in my field for 50-60k a year no problem. By the time he was 30 he's be >100k and climbing and this is not a high cost area.

So basically, I pretty much guarantee that he could be 24 and done with his student loans making close to 70k and rising fast.

Want a good job? Then don't spend your first 18 years mastering xbox a cross over dribble and how to roll blunts.

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by ambient

If most people follow the advice of that article, they'll be saying "Do you want fries with that?" or "Welcome to Walmart" for the rest of their lives - and they almost assuredly will not have $1-$3M saved up in bonds somewhere, because they will likely have needed all of that money (and perhaps then some) to stay afloat and manage their cost of living on a meager income.

College degrees are no panacea, but I would argue that you're still better off with a useful degree from a basic, reputable school (doesn't have to be Harvard) than with nothing at all.

Most people are not Bill Gates, and most of the blue collar jobs that kept people well paid in years past have been sold to China or somewhere else by now (along with quite a few of the white collar ones, too).

Yup. Whether college was worth it depends on what your alternatives are AND whether you keep that job.

One of the line workers crunched the math to show that I would never recoup the cost of my education compared to him, when I was a new hire engineer, and he was right but I didn't have the option of that line job and when they plant closed, neither did he.