Have you ever sat in a class and thought to yourself, "This is not going to benefit my future"?
Maybe you even went to multiple college fairs and deep down you had a feeling of certainty that it would not benefit you. You’re stuck between telling your college adviser the truth or just attending the events despite the decision you’ve made not to go to college, because you feel as though it makes you a failure.
How would you feel about taking an alternate route in the educational system starting in High School? Furthermore, what can the educational system do to help those who prefer the alternate route over college?
“I believe that having an alternate route or providing an alternate route for students who don't want to go to college is a great idea, because college isn't meant for everybody. One thing the school system could do to improve is find different programs that help students that don't plan on going to college right out of high school and dropouts so that they can provide opportunities for them to still be successful,” said Delanti Hall, a theatre major at DSA.
As of 2018, many career fields do not require college degrees including car and diesel mechanics, machine operators, and technicians, but the amount of jobs that do not require a degree should not limit the educational system from giving students the opportunity to make a decision before attending high school and taking standardized testing that are structured to show their “college readiness.”
As stated by New York Times, about 65.9 percent of people enroll in college after High School, leaving around 34.1 percent of graduates and dropouts who don’t need, want, or may not financially be able to go to college.
Students are not made aware of vocational classes, military, or as stated by CNBC, 15 percent of companies that don’t require a four-year degree offered in the United States. Alerting the educational system of what needs to change in order for the 34.1 percent of students who do not go to college after high school or dropout would increase the amount of successful students after high school.
