When your kids are born, everyone says, “Enjoy it! It goes too fast!” You nod politely and wonder how that’s possible, given the absolute madcap and mayhem that accompanies every waking minute of those first days. At times, I can remember wondering if we’d make it mentally. Then I blinked, and my oldest daughter is in high school. Turns out it does go fast, REALLY fast, and all of a sudden my wife and I are having discussions about college. Our family is actually taking a hard look at the “going to college” assumption, because with costs these days, it’s not a given for everyone.
My father-in-law likes to point out that he paid for college using earnings from his summer job. Mmm hmm. When I went to college, I came out with about $25,000 in student loans. Today? Forget it. College costs are absolutely off the wall. According to BestColleges.com, the priciest place for higher education at the moment is Pepperdine University. I’ve visited and it certainly is a stunning campus; however, annual attendance costs are pegged at $93,512. Needless to say, we’re not looking to send any of our kids there.
When I graduated high school in 1999, it was definitely an assumption — it wasn’t an if, but a where you were going to college. I recognize the privilege associated with that and fully appreciate how fortunate I was. That said, our three kids are only two years apart in school years. So were they to all attend a four-year school, there would be some heavy overlapping costs. Which is why regular conversations in our household revolve around what the kids want to do after high school. Simply going to a four-year college for the sake of going isn’t going to cut it.
To be clear, we’re not against the kids going to college. I understand the long-term career benefits, and it’s hard to argue with how much fun the experience can be. But for us, that path would be rooted in obtaining academic or athletic scholarships, or both. In-state tuition helps, but our home state of New Hampshire isn’t overflowing with four-year post-high school options. The angle my wife and I think makes the most sense, from a financial perspective, is going to community college for two years — there are plenty of those nearby — and then transferring to a four-year school to finish up.
The high school in our town has an incredible technical education component, really a whole separate school that is fully integrated into the campus. I can tell you that it is a staggering upgrade over the vo-tech option offered in my high school growing up. My three can look at everything from animal science and welding to culinary arts, pre-engineering, and building construction technology. Not every kid wants or needs to go to college and as far as we’re concerned, if one of ours wants to pursue the trades or another technical career path, it’s an excellent idea.
Finally, we’re encouraging the military path. My daughter is in ROTC and loves it. Last I checked, the US government would foot your college bill in exchange for military service. I appreciate that this is not for everyone, but landing a spot at prestigious institutions like the Naval Academy would be hard to pass up. In any case, these college conversations are complicated, full of challenges, and kind of exciting. So, for any new parents out there, it really does go fast. Enjoy it as much as possible, but know that as those kids get older, there are endlessly interesting new chapters to come, and college is a big one.
