How to decide if college is the right choice for you

How to decide if college is the right choice for youGet your degree if you want to succeed. This is pretty common advice for students who are trying to figure out what comes next in their lives. And education is always a good solution if you want to build knowledge and skills. Plus, a degree is usually a baseline requirement for more and more jobs out there, as many people find when they hit the job market with a high school diploma (or equivalent certificate) in hand. googlekalendertag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) But a college degree is also a significant investment of time, money, and personal resources, so its more important than ever to make sure its the right choice for your own life. Is it worthwhile for everyone? And more importantly, is it worthwhile for you? Lets look at the most important factors to consider as you decide whether or not to go for that college degree.Consider the debtAny conversation about college these days has to in volve the specter of staggering debt. Per CollegeData.com, the average price tag for a college education is $25,290 per year for a state college or university, and $50,900 for a private college or university. And tuition isnt the only cost to consider housing, books, and living expenses all factor in as well.Many students are able to make these ends meet with scholarships, grants, or working while they also attend colleges. But increasingly, students and their families are turning to student loans to cover college expenses. As of 2017, student loan debt is the second-highest consumer debt category, trailing only mortgage debt, per Forbes. The average student now carries $37,172 in student loan debt as they graduate and prepare to enter the workforce. Given that the average grad makes less than $50,000 per year to abflug, this can be a significant financial burden at the start of a career. And the default rate for student loans is 11.2%, suggesting that grads are not always able to c ope with this debt as they move on after college.but also consider the earning potentialWhile student load debt is becoming a significant national burden, its also seen as a kind of necessary evil when you look at how much college grads make vs. their counterparts who have a high school diploma or an incomplete college degree.According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, college grads experience significantly lower unemployment the more advanced their degrees become. College grads also earn more, on average the median weekly earnings for someone with a high school diploma jumps from $692 to $1,156 if the person has a bachelors degree. To put it in even more concrete terms, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics, a bachelors degree (or higher) adds $15,000 per year in income.So is college worth it?If were going by the stats, then, frankly, yes. On paper, college graduates are likely to make more and experience a lower unemployment rate. But life is rarely so straightforward and easy checked off by yes or no, so lets look at questions you need to ask yourself before you take this step.What are my goals?If you dream of becoming an accountant or a computer programmer, then these are fields that require specific expertise and academic credentials. If your ultimate goal is to work in retail management, then thats a field where experience can trump an education credential on a resume. The first step in any is college for me? debate is figuring out what your ideal future holds.Can I achieve those goals in a non-traditional way?Heres where alternative education programs become a crucial part of the dialogue. It may be that your target profession has specific education and certification programs that require less time and investment than a traditional college program, where you may be taking courses and meeting requirements that have nothing to do with your eventual profession. Allied health professions are a great example of thismany healthcare positions require a degree (like registered nursing or anesthesiologist), but there are plenty of jobs in the field that do not (like optician or surgical technologists) and instead require a job-specific certification and on-the-job training.Trade schools can be a valid alternative to a four-year program, providing exactly the knowledge and expertise youll need for your career goals, and often for a more affordable price than youd see at a traditional four-year school.Whats my financial plan?If you can afford to pay for college straight up, thats fantastic If you cant, then you need to have a plan. Whether its Harvard or a trade school, youll have to account for the costs of your future educational path. Based on your eventual job goals, how much will you be able to afford to pay on the average starting salary for that job? Sites like Salary.com and PayScale.com are great for helping you play around with that kind of math and determining what people are realistically making in you r potential field.Can I find a less expensive way to build your college degree?Many students opt to start off their college career at a community college, taking core classes and then transferring to a four-year college to finish the degree. This has a couple of benefits its less expensive than four years at a traditional college or university, may cut down on extra expenses like room and board if you can live at home, and also gives you time to decide whether youre on the right path, education-wise. If you get to the end of a four-year program only to discover that youve made a huge mistake in your major or concentration, then youve wasted both your time and (likely) a lot of money. If you take the community college route to study phlebotomy and discover in the process that maybe youre not destined to be a doctor because you cant stand the sight of blood after all, youve saved yourself a very expensive revelation later on.The bottom line is that college is an asset for the average person, but it might not be worthwhile for you, the non-average person. Its important to consider what your individual career goals are and whether you truly need the expertise and credentials that a four-year school can provide. You shouldnt feel roped into getting an expensive degree just because everyone is telling you that you should. Instead, it should be a decision based on careful thought about what the college degree would mean for your professional life, your future finances, and your ability to commit to that four-year degree. After all, youre unique, and your path to achieving your professional ambitions should be one that works for yourselfnot anyone else.