So, to start, a lot of HS students with aspirations of going to a university of some sort have to spend a decent amount of their last year or 2 trying to court different colleges for scholarships (most of which are colleges you’ve never heard of offering like $400 off or something) and free ride scholarships are (and this is admittedly anecdotal) unheard of in my area (suburb near major city). Should more socialist minded youth without the means to go to college find jobs? I don’t say this out of an anti-education perspective or some sort of belief that colleges are too liberal of institutions or anything, if it was free for families to send their children to school, I’d be all for it. What do yall think? And feel free to give me book suggestions or quotes from Leftists if you have any that may apply to this, specifically on the topic of the US where college costs more annually on average than any other nation.
I would say, a good starting point is acknowledging that the system is stacked against people in the US. Unless you have rich parents to pay for your college, you’re going to be at a disadvantage and even then, you’d end up competing against other kids of rich parents who are vying to get their kids into the same colleges and the same positions.
That said, the baseline everyone probably shares in some way is “to not end up in destitution.” And in that regard, I don’t think jumping into large loans is a good idea. It’s a predatory system and it preys on people who have basically just become adults and can’t possibly intuit well the implications of loans that they could spend decades having to pay off. Add to that how much has become “gig economy” stuff now, making degrees less important and more of a loan burden, overall.
So my recommendation is, unless you’re confident you can (not just want to) pursue a degree in one of the big ones like medicine, finance, or maybe computer science (though even that seems more glutted as a field with all the code bootcamp stuff now), I would not recommend taking out large loans to go to a standard university. Instead, consider cheaper community college stuff while working part-time, trade skills, specializations that require less cost and time investment, but still have a clear path to some kind of work. Will you be missing out on something, if you don’t live in a dorm and go to a four year college? Yeah, but you can also miss that while taking out significant loans, such as if you commute to a college instead of living on/near campus.
Higher education should just be paid for by the state, none of this crap in the way, but while it’s not, if you’re considering your future, don’t be taken for a ride because of a picture of an experience, or a piece of paper, that’s made out to be critical. Instead, make connections in your area, find hobby groups, etc., that’s a good chunk of the socializing from going to a university anyway. You don’t have to be a shut-in if you don’t do the “typical” university “experience” and you could go to a university and be a shut-in anyway. And you don’t have to give up on all specializations and certifications by not doing the “typical” path.
I’m not trying to say there’s one right answer, mind you, but the US is a mess and I think people should take that into account when considering a path. It’s probably going to be bumpier than colleges trying to sell you on enrollment make it out to be.