"They're missing out on a whole bunch of options this way," he says.
But just getting a degree for the sake of getting a degree has spelled trouble in the past for his students. "A lot of students will come and say, 'I'm here, I want to go to college because it's expected of me,' or, you know, 'That's what I want to do, just because I heard it's the best thing for me,' " Ruiz explains. He gives them quizzes and resources that make them think about the skills and experiences they've had - and how they might translate into a career. Ruiz sees his job as expanding the number of options students consider for themselves post-graduation. Mental health support is often on a school counselors plate too. "Usually we have counselors working with scheduling and making sure people can graduate on time," he says. He says not only is there not enough time in the day to meet one-on-one with students, but there are so many other demands that get in the way of college and career talk. He's been in schools where counselors are overworked with too many students to serve. "There is a lack of access to college counseling," says Jonathan Ruiz, a college adviser working with KC Scholars in the Kansas City metro area. In the 2014-2015 school year, the student-to-counselor ratio was about 482:1, according to research from the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Instead, counselors need to walk students through the many different paths they can take.īut career counselors can be hard to find. "The simple advice to high school students to 'go to college' no longer suffices," the authors write. One thing that could help correct that misconception, according to the report authors, would be for schools to employ more career counselors to guide students through the complex web of post-high school options. "I think there was always a misconception about trade workers and skilled trades and the viability of that career and how it could actually provide the same type of lifestyle that a bachelor's. Back in high school, "nobody ever talked about apprenticeships," she says. Harris says she wishes she had found this path sooner. Life Kit Finding Your Way To A (High-Paying) Trade Job "Wiring that circuit, I did it correctly and the light came on and I was like, 'This is it!' The light came on for me. One of the activities involved wiring a lightbulb. that's what the big excitement was around."Īfter meandering for more than a decade - taking some college classes and holding lots of different jobs - Harris signed up for a course designed to let her sample different jobs in the construction industry. "The friends that I had there were going to college. "College was the thing, the big thing, in high school," remembers Harris, 44. There aren't enough school counselors to help students make informed decisionsīack in high school, Isis Harris never imagined herself working as an electrician - everyone around her was just so focused on college. "That's why somebody who can do air conditioning will make more than somebody who becomes a schoolteacher."Īnd not just air conditioning - air traffic controllers, construction inspectors, respiratory therapists and cardiovascular technicians all earn more than, or about the same as, the median bachelor's degree holder. "Your specific education has its value and the value varies enormously," Carnevale says. The new report suggests that a student's field of study, the type of job they're training for and where they live can affect their earnings more than their type of degree. NPR Ed High-Paying Trade Jobs Sit Empty, While High School Grads Line Up For University which makes this whole experience and the set of decisions students have to make a lot more complicated." "The level of education matters less," explains Carnevale, who also directs the Center on Education and the Workforce. Tony Carnevale, one of the report's authors, says these findings support the idea that "you have to go to college" isn't always the best advice for high schoolers. The study found that in the years 2017 through 2019, on average, 16% of high school graduates, 23% of workers with some college and 28% of associate degree holders earned more money than half of all workers with a bachelor's degree.
Studies have shown that, on average, someone with a bachelor's degree will earn more than someone with an associate degree or a yearlong certificate.īut according to new research released on Thursday, there are also a lot of exceptions.Ī new study from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce finds a growing number of people without a bachelor's degree are now out-earning those with one. It's common knowledge at this point that the more education you have, the more money you'll make.