Throughout high school, many students will be asked the same question countless times by adults, “Where do you plan on going to college?” High school is filled with college being thrown in your face, because that is what is expected of students. Students are expected to go to college in order to become successful, but does college necessarily equal success like we are lead to believe? 

Going to college most certainly can help students become successful in their future, but going to college is not the only path to success. A college degree is a certificate stating that you met a certain level of scholastic achievement, and this does not always translate into the world of work. Getting a college degree does not guarantee a job and depending on what your degree is in, it may not even pay well. This is what people usually determine as success, how much money you have/make. 

Having an education will, of course, help someone get a job, but this does not mean that a college degree is the only way to gain a job. Starting a job right after high school and learning through real-life experiences can also be a beneficial way to increase a person’s success later in life. If someone were to be an apprentice and then later gain their license in a profession; they could begin their own business in that trade. 

If you were to look at the common average rate that a teacher makes in the United States, it is about $59,000. It costs 80 thousand plus dollars for a four-year education at a university. This would leave someone with an average debt of about $40,000. If you were to look at a trade school to become a welder, it would cost about 33 thousand dollars a year, which would get you the degree. On average, a welder in the United States makes about $45,000. 

Mareesa Buskirk, a senior, mentions her thoughts about college, “I do not think that college is for everybody and I also do not believe that people who go to college will automatically be successful because many of them do end up dropping out. There is more to life than just college.” 

Becoming a successful person may take time and lots and lots of effort, but either route a person decides to take does not determine their success. College or no college, there are plenty of people that are successful with or without it. So, whether college is for you or not, your success does not rely on the base of a college degree.