College or Trade School for a Career?

• Author: Kelly Cooke
• Posted: 2024-09-15

In the United States, there are over 30 million people who are very frustrated with their college debt. This is not only because they owe money on student loans that they may never pay off, but it's also because many of these people went to school for a degree and now do not have any stable career to work in. People who majored in gender studies, feminist theory, whiteness studies, etc, are working as part-time bloggers and guest lecturers in their education fields and don't really have a career of which to speak. A lot of critics of the corporate college system point out the usury involved in convincing kids to take on thousands in debt only to have slim career prospects, while others swear by college and claim that every person should go get a degree. Speaking specifically in the context of a career, is it even wise to attend college these days? Or should someone look into something like a trade school? It's a pretty hotly contested debate that's waging on in American society.

So, which is actually better? Of course, corporations and politicians swear by college and claim every single American should attend. However, they're not doing anything to lower tuition rates and are in fact working to raise them up. Corporate college is its own multi-billion-dollar economy now. Trade schools, on the other hand, are usually considered second-rate and not as good as colleges. Though what's very telling is that it's the corporate world telling people to ignore trade schools. Maybe the best thing a person can do is take an objective look at the benefits of each.

The Benefits of College

College does have its many benefits, depending on what you major in. For instance, learning about things like science and engineering are things that you won't get to do outside of college, generally speaking. And when it comes to employers who would hire you for a career working for NASA or developing green tech, they definitely want to see your college degree. Good colleges and good majors carry a ton of weight in the job market.

Unfortunately, there are many different majors that students take that are certainly not viewed in the greatest of esteem. There are plenty of people putting down their gender studies major from UC Berkeley on their application yet end up sad and angry that they didn't get a job as an assets manager on Wall Street. Many college graduates cannot seem to put 2 and 2 together, ironically enough, and thus do not realize that having a college degree is only a bonus if they're using it to go after a career within that narrow margin of expertise they've developed. To that end, a college degree is certainly beneficial.

The Benefits of Trade School

Trade school is basically a professional level preparatory institute. For instance, if you want to get a job being an electrician, a trade school is going to teach you how to wire houses. Going back to the college example: If you want to be some type of business manager, even if you take business management as a major, you're not in school running a business. Therefore, trade schools have huge benefits over college in that they're teaching you with real-world experience. When you attend trade school to be an auto mechanic, for instance, you're not reading books and learning about "engine theory." You're putting your hands directly into the steel and using tools to repair and rebuild engines. So what you're getting from a trade school is a much different sort of a hands-on experience than you're getting in college. This can work out in thousands of different fields. Sure, you won't be considered part of the "intelligentsia," but you also won't be an angry young adult with over $200,000 in debt and no job prospects.

People who graduate from trade school typically hit the ground running and end up making about $75k/year their first year after graduating.

Matching Your Education to Your Career

When it boils down to it, it really does all depend on what you want to do with your life. If your career choice is to become a college professor, or some sort of academic, then obviously going to a traditional college is the right move for you and your future. Though if you want to get into any sort of trade as a career where you're using your hands and using an acquired skill, then a trade school is the only way to go because colleges aren't going to provide you with that sort of hands-on experience needed to achieve success.