From high school to apprenticeship, then maybe to college

I feel like I have been saying (still with uncertainty) for some time now that maybe jumping directly to college right after high school may not be the answer. How many times have you heard about students whom go directly to college, get their degree, and find a job in an unrelated field. I hear this all the time.

In Sir Ken Robinson’s book “The Element“, he talks about how our education system is set up to farm students in to the ‘factory’ and out to college, like an assembly line process. He also talks about how finding your passion may take time, and in almost every case, students have no idea what they want to do for the rest of their lives at 17 years old. Maybe we need a step in between high school and college, like an apprenticeship or internship discovery program.

Last night I was at an alumni event at Lesley University. I am both and Alum and teach at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. Great networking event! There was a woman who spoke about her story towards her career, and how some folks at Lesley University really helped her along the way. Her story was not so dissimilar to my own, but she said something interesting that got my “college to early” bug going. She mentioned how she found her passion after getting her bachelors degree, and that students should not necessarily worry about finding a job in the undergraduate field. The notion of “Get your degree, and then figure it out”. Hmmm… It’s like the only reason we go to college is to get to Grad School. As a design teacher in a BFA program, those skills students are learning are critical. Should my students just get their degree, and look for their next level schooling, while ignoring what they did before? Is this bachelors degree idea not anything more than a  huge scam to 17/18 year old students???! We can’t let this happen.

A new article from Good Magazine also backs up this point. You’re not better off without a degree, but without some thought, focus, play and discovery of the world, jumping to college may not be the right answer after high school. It’s getting harder and harder to convince students the hefty price tag of college is worth it in the end. Interesting World. Here is the Good Magazine article - http://www.good.is/post/could-apprenticeships-replace-the-college-degree/