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edited Jun 16, 2020 at 10:49

How do I want to earn a living? College can help here, but you should have some kind of goal before you even consider that. What do you want to become down the road? If you're going to college just so you can say you went, you're doing it wrong. Maybe you want a degree in the arts because you love art. That's OK. And maybe it's worth it to you that the degree might not earn you money right away (or even ever). That's OK too. Just be honest with yourself about your goals here.
How can I actually make money? I know many attorneys who got their law degree and it took them years before they got a steady paying job (and they're still paying down that debt). Ignore the usage of your degree and just answer that in general. Look around at what jobs are listed where you want to live. Far too many people assume that they need a white collar job, when a blue collar job can actually pay more with less education needed (some jobs might even train you directly). That's a point Mike Rowe often makes

Consider the reality of today’s job market. We have a massive skills gap. Even with record unemployment, millions of skilled jobs are unfilled because no one is trained or willing to do them. Meanwhile, unemployment among college graduates is at an all-time high, and the majority of those graduates with jobs aren’t even working in their field of study.
Where do I want to live? If you said New York City or California, your cost of living is going to be MUCH higher than if you said, say, Louisiana. Now consider the previous two points. Maybe you can handle going to community college to start off (they often have flexible hours for working class folks) and then transfer to somewhere you can get an undergraduate degree you want. Consider moving to a place with a cheap college and decent job market.

Consider the reality of today’s job market. We have a massive skills gap. Even with record unemployment, millions of skilled jobs are unfilled because no one is trained or willing to do them. Meanwhile, unemployment among college graduates is at an all-time high, and the majority of those graduates with jobs aren’t even working in their field of study. 3. Where do I want to live? If you said New York City or California, your cost of living is going to be MUCH higher than if you said, say, Louisiana. Now consider the previous two points. Maybe you can handle going to community college to start off (they often have flexible hours for working class folks) and then transfer to somewhere you can get an undergraduate degree you want. Consider moving to a place with a cheap college and decent job market.

How do I want to earn a living? College can help here, but you should have some kind of goal before you even consider that. What do you want to become down the road? If you're going to college just so you can say you went, you're doing it wrong. Maybe you want a degree in the arts because you love art. That's OK. And maybe it's worth it to you that the degree might not earn you money right away (or even ever). That's OK too. Just be honest with yourself about your goals here.
How can I actually make money? I know many attorneys who got their law degree and it took them years before they got a steady paying job (and they're still paying down that debt). Ignore the usage of your degree and just answer that in general. Look around at what jobs are listed where you want to live. Far too many people assume that they need a white collar job, when a blue collar job can actually pay more with less education needed (some jobs might even train you directly). That's a point Mike Rowe often makes

Consider the reality of today’s job market. We have a massive skills gap. Even with record unemployment, millions of skilled jobs are unfilled because no one is trained or willing to do them. Meanwhile, unemployment among college graduates is at an all-time high, and the majority of those graduates with jobs aren’t even working in their field of study. 3. Where do I want to live? If you said New York City or California, your cost of living is going to be MUCH higher than if you said, say, Louisiana. Now consider the previous two points. Maybe you can handle going to community college to start off (they often have flexible hours for working class folks) and then transfer to somewhere you can get an undergraduate degree you want. Consider moving to a place with a cheap college and decent job market.

How do I want to earn a living? College can help here, but you should have some kind of goal before you even consider that. What do you want to become down the road? If you're going to college just so you can say you went, you're doing it wrong. Maybe you want a degree in the arts because you love art. That's OK. And maybe it's worth it to you that the degree might not earn you money right away (or even ever). That's OK too. Just be honest with yourself about your goals here.
How can I actually make money? I know many attorneys who got their law degree and it took them years before they got a steady paying job (and they're still paying down that debt). Ignore the usage of your degree and just answer that in general. Look around at what jobs are listed where you want to live. Far too many people assume that they need a white collar job, when a blue collar job can actually pay more with less education needed (some jobs might even train you directly). That's a point Mike Rowe often makes

Consider the reality of today’s job market. We have a massive skills gap. Even with record unemployment, millions of skilled jobs are unfilled because no one is trained or willing to do them. Meanwhile, unemployment among college graduates is at an all-time high, and the majority of those graduates with jobs aren’t even working in their field of study.
Where do I want to live? If you said New York City or California, your cost of living is going to be MUCH higher than if you said, say, Louisiana. Now consider the previous two points. Maybe you can handle going to community college to start off (they often have flexible hours for working class folks) and then transfer to somewhere you can get an undergraduate degree you want. Consider moving to a place with a cheap college and decent job market.

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created Jun 12, 2019 at 13:29

Machavity

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I tend to agree with Jared on this

You will need to pick a major that will allow you to repay the debt.

I don't know that he explained it very well, however. College is definitely useful for increasing your potential lifetime earnings. Generally speaking earnings go up the more educated you are. But the cost of college is not insignificant

Tuition and fees vary from college to college. The average cost of tuition and fees for the 2018–2019 school year was $35,676 at private colleges, $9,716 for state residents at public colleges and $21,629 for out-of-state students at state schools, according to data reported to U.S. News in an annual survey. When it comes to costs, the average tuition and fees to attend an in-state public college is a third of the average sticker price charged at a private institution.

If we run with that private tuition number, that's a whopping $140,000 tuition for a 4 year undergraduate degree on average. There are places where you can buy a house for about that much. And that's assuming you find a median cost college. Harvard (a school with immense prestige) costs more than double that.

What you need here is a plan. The factors you need to consider are

How do I want to earn a living? College can help here, but you should have some kind of goal before you even consider that. What do you want to become down the road? If you're going to college just so you can say you went, you're doing it wrong. Maybe you want a degree in the arts because you love art. That's OK. And maybe it's worth it to you that the degree might not earn you money right away (or even ever). That's OK too. Just be honest with yourself about your goals here.
How can I actually make money? I know many attorneys who got their law degree and it took them years before they got a steady paying job (and they're still paying down that debt). Ignore the usage of your degree and just answer that in general. Look around at what jobs are listed where you want to live. Far too many people assume that they need a white collar job, when a blue collar job can actually pay more with less education needed (some jobs might even train you directly). That's a point Mike Rowe often makes

Consider the reality of today’s job market. We have a massive skills gap. Even with record unemployment, millions of skilled jobs are unfilled because no one is trained or willing to do them. Meanwhile, unemployment among college graduates is at an all-time high, and the majority of those graduates with jobs aren’t even working in their field of study. 3. Where do I want to live? If you said New York City or California, your cost of living is going to be MUCH higher than if you said, say, Louisiana. Now consider the previous two points. Maybe you can handle going to community college to start off (they often have flexible hours for working class folks) and then transfer to somewhere you can get an undergraduate degree you want. Consider moving to a place with a cheap college and decent job market.

Another option is military service. Not only will they provide you a job, they'll train you as well. Want to go to college later? They can help pay for it, but by then you might already be well trained. I have a nephew doing welding for the Navy and it's pretty lucrative for him once he leaves the service, which isn't bad for a guy without a college degree.