re: Is anyone else not pushing their kids to attend college?

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and how long it takes to make a decent salary

Of course, someone may not make a decent salary with a bachelors degree - but I would think there are more options

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A person can become a HVAC technician AFTER getting a 4 year degree....can't get a job requiring a 4 year degree if all you have is the skill to be a HVAC technician. Nothing wrong with being a HVAC Tech but life is long and options lead to all manner of positive things.

I went to trade school and college simultaneously while working 40+ hours a week straight out of high school and paid for college out of pocket (when such a thing was possible). Trade school was paid for by employer and union. I finished trade school up in 4 years and had a degree in 7. I was injured on the job about a year after finishing trade school and was out of work for nearly 9 months in a wheelchair. Had I not also gone to college I would have been fricked as a soup sandwich. The trades are great if you are physically healthy enough to do the work...most people start to fade around 40, by 45 are in serious decline and by 55 they are ancient....with 10+ years left to work. Thats if they are lucky and do not get injured bad on a job (they are going to get injured some, its part of it). This is the secret that no one tells young folks...if 10 of you start in a trade 7 of you will not be working in it in 20 years because your body will not allow it. Toss in being laid off regularly and all that means financially and emotionally (hard to keep a family together when you are 1000 miles from home or drawing unemployment at the house) and the trades are not what they seem. It can be great and works for some....more often it does not. There is a reason so many tradesmen are broke, drunk and crippled...it is a damned hard way to earn a living and your life expectancy is less than your peers. Not to suggest its not a viable alternative but folks ought to at least go into with knowing what they are getting into...