- Parents are starting to realize college isn’t the only lucrative option for their kids after high school. As more high-school grads turn toward trades, apprenticeships, or other means of postsecondary education, parents are becoming more accepting of different career paths. A new report shows 70% of teens say their parents are supportive of them exploring other options besides college after high school.
As attending college becomes increasingly expensive, it’s no surprise younger generations are considering alternatives to a four-year degree. Going to college was once perceived as a one-way ticket to a successful and lucrative career, but there are a growing number of six-figure jobs that don’t require a degree.
Parents are taking notice. Numbered are the days of parents encouraging—or in some cases, forcing—their kids to go to college. A recent study by American Student Assistance that surveyed more than 3,000 middle- and high-school students showed 70% of teens say their parents are more supportive of forgoing a college education for a different pursuit like trade school or an apprenticeship.
“Parents are waking up. College doesn’t carry the same [return on investment] it once did because the cost is outrageous, and the outcome is uncertain,” Trevor Houston, a career strategist at ClearPath Wealth Strategies, told Fortune. “Students now face the highest amount of debt ever recorded, but job security after graduation doesn’t really exist.”
The average cost of college in the U.S. is more than $38,000 per student per year, according to the Education Data Initiative, and the average cost of college has more than doubled in the 21st century. Private schools almost always cost more than that average. Meanwhile, more than 4 million Gen Zers are jobless, and blame their “worthless” college degrees.
Many parents are realizing that while the traditional career path—high school to college to a job—has worked for some, others are looking for something that better suits their career aspirations, Julie Lammers, executive vice president at American Student Assistance, told Fortune.
“Many students today are looking for faster, more affordable routes to the workforce,” Lammers said. “We need to do more to better support and validate those goals.”
Career paths that don’t require a college degree
While it used to feel as though college was the only mainstream option after high school, there are multiple pathways to career success, Lammers said. This can include skilled trades, apprenticeships, career-training programs, bootcamps, industry certifications, and occupation licenses.
These career paths are coined “new-collar jobs,” a descriptor introduced by IBM—one of the world’s largest tech companies. In October 2017, IBM launched its apprenticeship program to train people for new-collar jobs that prioritize skills over degrees. Their program is focused on training cybersecurity, design, data science, mobile development, cloud, artificial intelligence, and blockchain—career paths that often can lead to six-figure salaries.
Resume Genius also found in a recent analysis several jobs that often don’t require a four-year degree, but offer six-figure salaries. Below are the top 10 highest-paying jobs that often don’t require a degree as well as their respective median annual salaries.
- Marketing manager ($159,660)
- Human resources manager ($140,030)
- Sales manager ($138,060)
- Computer network architect ($130,390)
- General and operations manager ($129,330)
- Information security analyst ($124,910)
- Sales engineer ($121,520)
- Health services manager ($117,960)
- Art director ($111,040)
- Construction manager ($106,980)
Trade jobs are also an interesting and lucrative opportunity for recent high-school grads. These encompass many jobs and different kinds of opportunities, Lammers said, from the construction or the growing energy market to the agriculture and transportation fields.
“The skilled trades may be a more attractive option for a student who prefers hands-on learning or wants to enter the job market sooner than a traditional college degree would allow,” Lammers said.
In fact, many Gen Zers are choosing to go into trade because they see it as a “straight path to a six-figure job,” Mike Rowe, the CEO of MikeRoweWorks Foundation, a charity that challenges stigma and stereotypes against no-degree jobs, previously told Fox Business.
Elevator and escalator installers are taking home just over $100,000 a year on average, and those jobs require just a high-school diploma. Other trade jobs that don’t require a college degree and pay six figures, according to the National Society of High School Scholars include:
- Aircraft mechanics ($135,628)
- Plumbers, pipe fitters, and steamfitters ($132,275)
- Construction manager ($130,000)
- Industrial electricians ($122,500)
- Energy technician ($115,076)
The good news is the demand for these jobs will only continue to grow, Lammers said.
“An aging workforce in the trades and a surge in demand to meet infrastructure needs, ever-growing real estate demands, and changes to U.S. energy production mean that there are considerably more job openings than skilled workers to fill the need,” she said.
The time is now for students to start thinking about their future career paths, Houston said. It’s important for them to start exploring what their jobs could look like—but there’s no pressure to pick a permanent path.
“Their current stage of life gives them the opportunity to identify what they love while they are free from major responsibilities,” he said. “Experimentation at an early stage will prepare them to build a life based on their true desires instead of following paths set by others.”
