I am a big fan of education… particularly college education. I used to think when I was in my twenties that I could easily have become a professional student. And if it hadn’t been for getting married and becoming a parent, I would have. Even now, many years later, I can still feel the nerdy thrill of taking classes and planning degree work.
I was also a teacher for thirty-one years and would encourage students any chance that I got for them to pursue post-secondary education, if they wanted to increase their chances of finding satisfying work at a decent salary. I would cite statistics showing that a college education could on average double their lifetime earnings compared to someone with only a high school education. My faith in the power of higher education remains unshaken. I think nearly everyone should continue formal education for as long as possible.
However, I have seen a troubling downside to acquiring too much college education. In a word, it is debt. It is not unusual to run across thirty-somethings and others who have multiple degrees and/or certifications and no satisfying employment. What they do have, though, are thousands of dollars owed for the education received to get those degrees and certs. I’ve heard staggering figures. There are relatively young people who are looking at decades of school loan payback ahead of them. This restricts their lifestyles, as all debt does, and makes further education appear impossible to achieve.
Now, it would be one thing if the folks I’m talking about had exciting, stimulating careers paying them robust salaries. But too often this is not the case. Instead, they are settling for second rate job choices and realizing as they approach middle age that they are not happy career-wise, leaving them feeling stuck.
How did this happen? It is what can occur if you do not enter higher education with at least the beginning of a career plan. Everyone has heard the story that a college education opens doors and leads to career success. And as I indicated earlier, there is much evidence that it can. But it is far from a guarantee. A college degree should not be thought of as a magic bullet. If years spent at a university are not a well thought through means to an end, then it can be a costly waste of time.
A typical sequence is this — you are a student who majors in some undergraduate program for weak reasons, generally because you were without enough quality guidance. Afterwards, you find yourself in a ho-hum job and think that the way out is to go back to school to get another degree. You hope that this time it will “work”.
But your decision making again has not been monitored by someone who can properly assist you. So, you find yourself again in a less than stellar job and think that if you had only followed your heart the first time you would not be in this mess. So, you go back to school to study your passion, incur more debt, and realize a gazillion dollars later that you are still not happy.
Career planning should begin very early in a student’s education, whether it is done by a parent, a guidance counselor, a teacher, or a privately hired career development specialist. Basically, someone who actually has time, interest, and perspective to focus on you. College costs way too much to have the experience squandered. However, properly directed higher education can help lead to meaningful and sustained careers.
I recommend taking the time to think through what you hope to achieve from education and process these thoughts, along with crucial elements of your personality, in the presence of a career professional. It is worth the effort and money to do this one right.
