What is a young high school graduate to do? In years past, the reflexive answer went something like this: “Go to college. It’s the only way you can be assured of making a decent living.”
No more.
Young people are increasingly choosing not to take that well-worn advice for a number of reasons. As The Republic’s Andy East reported last week, just over 55% of Bartholomew County students who graduated in 2020 enrolled in college or post-secondary education within a year. That’s a 13-year low, and far removed from the nearly 72% of 2017 grads who went on to further studies.
But in and of itself, we should not find this decline too concerning.
In these uncertain times, high school graduates have more options available to them than they have in years — including the possibility of walking out of high school and into a career in which they can support themselves.
No less than Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. Superintendent Jim Roberts recognized this sea change, according to East.
“There was a time, it seemed like, where it was, ‘Let’s push kids into college and let that be the thing,’” Roberts said. “And for many kids, that just wasn’t the thing, and people spent a lot of money doing that and then did not complete school and left school with no degree, spent a lot of dollars and had student loan debt. And so as we work on having less student loan debt and other things, what are the different steps that our kids can take to obtain the things that are necessary to be successful?”
At BCSC, the majority of students take at least one vocational education program, and some earn certifications that ready them for skilled careers, such as welding, according to Roberts. The average salary for welders in Indiana, for instance, is about $21 an hour, according to Indeed.com. Not exactly the minimum-wage jobs that prior generations could expect upon graduating high school.
At the same time, many grads are put off by student debt horror stories. Educationdata.org reports that in Indiana, the average student loan debt is $32,874. More than 12,000 Hoosiers have racked up student debt in excess of $200,000.
Education is costly, and more students are questioning the cost-benefit analysis for themselves. We shouldn’t condemn them for that as much as acknowledge reality: We’re currently debating in some circles whether to cancel student-loan debt for borrowers who are burdened by it.
Roberts told East he’s not too worried about the decline in students heading straight into post-secondary education after graduating, and that’s a perspective that better serves them. Not everyone needs further schooling if they have a path they’re following that doesn’t require degrees.
This isn’t at all to take away from the majority of students who will continue their education after high school. Odds are they will earn more throughout their lifetimes. Education is an investment in one’s future that should not be diminished.
Meanwhile, Columbus is changing its approach to grads who may be on the fence. A new space at Columbus Learning Center called “The Bridge” will be a connection hub to highlight services from Ivy Tech, IUPUC and Purdue Polytechnic. That will serve students well, regardless of whether they commit to post-secondary education.
