A conversation I often have with parents is something like this:  

“College? There Has Got to Be a Better Way”.

College is like a money pit and does not offer such a powerful tool to create wealth and security as perhaps it did. In fact, if chosen poorly, it generates the opposite.

So today, I want to dive into the issue a little deeper and explore some thoughts.

The college experience has some issues that often go with it.

1. massive debt
   
2. wasted time
   
3. opportunity cost
   
4. converting good thinking kids into – well, something else (garbage in and reprogramming)
   

Yet as parents, we only hear of a few alternatives

• Military
  
• Trade school
  
• Living in the  basement forever
  

The truth is, we want for our kids the same thing that the college experience used to really offer. We want

• Opportunity to do anything they like
  
• Ability to earn and prosper
  
• Success on their own terms
  

So to think about this, let’s start by unpacking what college does still offer

• A plan – course plan to get a degree that maps to some career
  
• Measures of success – classes and grades
  
• Accountability – timelines, deadlines
  
• Credentials – diplomas showing success
  

Now the question is, how do we get this without college?

Click here to listen now.

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• 148: Can You Become an Engineer (or anything else) without a College Degree [Podcast]
  
• 016: How to Measure the Value of a College Education – A Do-Over! [PODCAST]
  
• 145: Does it Matter Where You Go to School? [Podcast]