Читать книгу Paying For College For Dummies - Eric Tyson - Страница 12

IN THIS CHAPTER

Scrutinizing the steep sticker price of many traditional colleges

Understanding the employment reality upon graduation

Getting the best pricing by understanding how colleges see your situation

Seeing the disconnect between college academics and what some employers are seeking in graduates

Comprehending how the college landscape is changing and evolving

Planning ahead. When you have kids, even if you’ve been a live-in-the-moment, what’s-up-today kind of person, it’s hard and could be costly not to do some thinking about your children’s future.

Think ahead to an important and often bittersweet milestone - high school graduation. Many parents look back at the prior 18 or so years and wonder where all that time went and how fast it flew by. When your child graduates from high school, you may breathe a sigh of relief and feel a sense of accomplishment. But, what will Johnny do next and how will he (along with you) make that difficult decision?

Most parents envision their kids heading off post-high school graduation to a hopefully “good” college for four years. If that’s what you did and had a mostly positive experience, of course it’s natural to want the same for your own kids. Maybe you didn’t attend college and have felt that you missed out on particular career options or some needed time to grow up and explore what’s out there.

You may have concerns about the path you did or didn’t choose or have spoken with others who do. A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that 47 percent of Americans no longer believe that having a college degree will lead to a good job and higher lifetime earnings. Among Millennials, only 39 percent continue to believe in college. And for some good reasons — high and rapidly escalating costs, increasingly specialized jobs which most college educations don’t prepare you for and the political climate on many college campuses that may not match what you want for your children’s formative young adult years.

My goal throughout this book is to present you with the facts and the pros and cons of alternatives. While I understand that many people reading this book will end up at a traditional four-year college, I know from the statistics that increasing numbers of families are choosing alternatives to that route. Despite the fact that I attended a four-year college, I truly want what is best for your kids. Your children are unique and the post-high school options best suited to them should reflect what fits them. Choosing a particular college because it’s on someone else’s “best” list won’t be a good idea if it’s not what’s best for your child’s situation.

In this chapter, we confront the high prices at many colleges and universities, look ahead to the employment reality students face upon graduation and discuss how the college and post high school landscape is evolving to address these important trends.