In our constantly advancing society, a college education is becoming increasingly popular amongst high school graduates, but costs continue to skyrocket. From a young age, children are taught that in order to earn enough money to support a future family, they must have a college degree.

The average 18- year-old in the U.S. has over $10,000 of student loan debt before they’ve even completed their first year of college.

There are definitely circumstances where a college education is completely necessary for the field someone wants to go into.

“I want to be a doctor and I need to go to college, so I’ll be properly trained in the career field,” Senior Robbie Raso said.

However, others such as Senior Joel Kemerer want to go into a vocational field where a college education isn’t needed.

“If I can join the electrical union my trade school would be free and I would be able to start working in the field immediately after high school,” Kemerer said.

“As a student, you need to be smart and do your research. What can you do with your major? Will you have a job?” Ms. Rita Kaplin said.

Part of the battle with choosing post secondary education is what will benefit you in years to come. Some careers are constantly changing, while others haven’t.

“In four year schools, many courses are traditional, or old fashion,” Kaplin said. With trade schools, most courses are always updating to our modern society. Having an increase in drilling for natural gas, has led to many trades coming higher in demand.

Underclassmen planning on applying to a college or trade school take into consideration what they hope to do in life when deciding between college or a trade school. Junior Tyler Bonzo has an interest in building.

“I want to become an architect after high school so I can design buildings,” Bonzo said.
A construction worker also builds things and would need a technical education from a trade school. However, since Bonzo wants to design buildings an architecture degree from college would allow him to follow that career path.

“I plan on going to vo-tech and then a trade school to become a welder,” Sophomore Jordan Kanschat said. For this career path, a trade school would be the better option.

However, Welding and Construction aren’t the only fields where a trade school would be more beneficial than college. Countless other occupations such as HVAC and even cosmetology can be taught at a trade or technical school.

Roughly 22% of Freedom graduates prefer to get a job out of high school instead of pursuing a college education. Luckily for them, trained laborers are in high demand in thousands of jobs across the U.S.

College isn’t for everyone, and all FHS students need to realize that there are other options when choosing a post secondary education. Explore your options, you might be surprised at the number of possibilities.