Is a four-year degree the only route to success?

A recent post at League of Education Voters shared information from the Department of Labor demonstrating the importance of post high school learning to weekly earnings and unemployment rates.

This is in contrast to an AP article questioning whether college is really important for all students. Though the article is centered in Columbus, Missouri, similar conversations take place across the country. A high school student chooses to go to a technical school instead of college disappointing the parents and questioning the commonly held perception that only a college degree leads to success and happiness.

She has a 3.5 grade-point-average, a college savings account and a family tree teeming with advanced degrees. But in June, Hodges is headed to the Tulsa Welding School in Oklahoma, where she hopes to earn an associate's degree in welding technology in seven months.

"They fought me so hard," she said, referring to disappointed family members. "They still think I'm going to college."

Hodges has been set on a welding career since she was 13. She craves independence and has little patience for fellow students who seem to wind up in college more from a sense of obligation than anything else.

"School is what they've been doing their whole lives," she said. "So they just want to continue. Because that's what they are used to."

Sue Popkes doesn't hide her disappointment over her younger daughter's decision. At the same time, she realizes that Hodges may achieve more financial security than a college degree could ever provide.

I find myself more and more in agreement with those suggesting that the traditional college route is not value added for all students. Though I believe that post high school learning will be essential, it does not need to be in a four year college. Consider the following information from the article.

But federal statistics show that just 36 percent of full-time students starting college in 2001 earned a four-year degree within that allotted time. Even with an extra two years to finish, that group's graduation rate increased only to 57 percent.

Spending more time in school also means greater overall student debt. The average student debt load in 2008 was $23,200 — a nearly $5,000 increase over five years. Two-thirds of students graduating from four-year schools owe money on student loans.

And while the unemployment rate for college graduates still trails the rate for high school graduates (4.9 percent versus 10.8 percent), the figure has more than doubled in less than two years.

"A four-year degree in business — what's that get you?" asked Karl Christopher, a placement counselor at the Columbia Area Career Center vocational program. "A shift supervisor position at a store in the mall."

This college debate will continue for the foreseeable future, perhaps until such time that the data in the table above shows a smaller differential or we discover additional ways to measure success.