High school students should give equal consideration to post-high school educational options such as building trade apprenticeships, college and other vocational programs.
A January Forbes.com article discusses how bachelor’s degrees are failing millions of college graduates throughout the nation.
Armed with a four-year college degree, college graduates are learning the opportunities to use their education are simply not available. The unemployment rate for college graduates grew by 1.5 percent in 2014, while the unemployment rate for those in their 20s, with at least a bachelor’s degree, climbed to 12.4 percent.
Currently, an estimated 13 million Americans with college degrees are unemployed and countless more are either underemployed or have given up trying to find a job.
The high unemployment rate leaves many college graduates with a difficult time finding a way to pay their student debt, which averages out to $30,000 per graduate. Nationwide, the total amount of student loan debt is $1.2 trillion.
While those individuals who attend college amass thousands in debt, those who enter into apprenticeships receive a free education, as they earn while they learn.
Besides forgoing student debt, men and women who enter into apprenticeships are more likely to find jobs.
A report from Georgetown University predicts that nearly two-thirds of available jobs in 2020 will not require a bachelor’s degree. Instead, roughly half of those jobs will require vocational training such as an apprenticeship or an associate’s degree.
The rise in apprenticeship and vocational training jobs corresponds to the retirement of Baby Boomers. As these individuals leave the workforce, the construction and manufacturing industries will continue to seek individuals to fill their positions.
Proudly serving Northwest Ohio for more than 125 years, the Northwest Ohio Piping Industry actively recruits all members of the community to apprenticeship programs in in-demand fields such as plumbing, welding, pipefitting and HVACR. Individuals accepted into a Piping Industry apprenticehip are eligble for our excellent healthcare coverage and pension program.
Individuals who are at least 18-years-old, have either a high school diploma or G.E.D. and can pass a drug test can visit our apprenticeship page for more information or to apply for an apprenticeship.