Home Educating Texans Workforce Skills Development College is not for everyone…We must provide education for the skilled trades

College is not for everyone…We must provide education for the skilled trades

This topic contains 5 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by  Angus McNew 10 years, 2 months ago.

  • College is not for everyone…We must provide education for the skilled trades

    Started by Larry D. Barr

    I have worked in higher education here in Texas for nearly 14 years. I continue to be amazed by the number of students who really don’t belong in college. There are many students who basically areat college because they think that’s what’s expected of them. Many of these would be much better served by education in the skilled trades. Enrollment in a welding school, apprenticeship as an electrician or plumber. Whatever. Our society is running out of people who can make things with their hands, and we need those people. But society has become dedicated to the idea that “everyone needs a college degree”. We need folks in our society who can build and create. We need welders, machinists, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, brickmasons and appliance repair people. Let us undertake to offer high school students the chance to determine if they’d be better suited to one of the skilled trades, instead of getting what’s become the “obligatory” degree, because that’s become expected.

    Our fine young Texans need to have the option and know that the trades are vitally needed and are a necessary and respected career. The State of Georgia has a program called Go Build Georgia to promote the skilled trades and encourage young folks to consider them as a career. Texas should do no less. I believe that if we don’t offer these young people the option and the opportunity we are letting them down as they begin their working lives.

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    I couldn’t agree more, I think that trade schools are very over looked as a whole which ultimately hinders us in the long run. When I graduated high school I was more or less told go to collage so you can get a good job, or good luck making it out there. In the long run I joined the military and have been more or less successful. My friends that did end up going to school are for the most working jobs that have nothing to do with their degree or did not require a degree in the first place. Honestly the only one I know of that is doing better then me 7 years after our graduation was the one that ended up going to school and getting a commission as an officer in the Army.

    With all that being said I fully plan to use my GI bill when/if I get out on a trade school to help get certified in skills I already have and to better refine what I’ve been doing for years as a hobby. (Welding/metal work) My hobby started when I was in high school fabricating farm equipment to keep the farm I worked at running. I think if shop classes and the like became more common in schools like they used to be we would see an increase in skilled labor.

    Another big benefit to trade schools is that it helps provide our great state with skilled craftsmen that are able to contribute back to the local economy and keep Texas independent.

    Had I known 45 years ago what I know now, I’d have either gone to welding school or apprenticed myself to a machinist. I’d never have gone near college. I majored in Broadcast Communications and have made maybe 0.01% of my life’s income in that field. I’m a self-taught welder, mechanic and electrician, and have worked in all of those fields. Electrician for 12 years. My current job in higher ed is primarily maintenance and fabrication (along with some audio and video production), although my title is manager. I got the job because of what I can produce, repair, design and build, not because of what I went to college for. Living proof that the skilled trades are essential, even in the field of higher education.

    Mr. Barr, Thank you for initiating a discussion on this topic! As you may know, the outstanding balance on all direct federal student loans reached nearly $700 billion last April (http://www.fms.treas.gov/mts/mts0413.pdf) . Meanwhile, the default rate continues to rise (http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/default-rates-continue-rise-federal-student-loans).

    In your opinion, what is the best way to encourage young people to consider the alternatives to matriculating immediately after high school graduation?

    I’m also keenly interested in the Go Build Georgia program you mention. What would it take to replicate Georgia’s model here in Texas?

    Margo Cardwell
    Policy Analyst
    Texans for Greg Abbott

    I just checked out the Go Build Georgia website – a very interesting approach. For those interested in the topic, it is worth a visit:

    http://www.gobuildgeorgia.com/

    This is a very interesting approach toward encouraging students not to disregard careers that do not require four-year degrees – which remains a vital element of the state economy.

    Can better informing students of all opportunities make a real difference in addressing the dearth of blue-collar professionals in certain professions?

    Mike Goldman
    Policy Analyst
    Texans for Greg Abbott

    Agree. We fail our kids when we don’t teach them a skill that will feed a family even when the fancy white-collar jobs aren’t available. That’s why we have people with degrees flipping burgers. They didn’t learn a trade to fall back on, if nothing else. EVERY STUDENT should know a trade upon graduation!

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