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 In My Opinion

The Case for College

Christopher Perdue

Texas Home School Coalition Association REVIEW © November 2008

Colleges have gotten a bad rap, often deservedly so. My hometown of Austin was recently ranked by Forbes magazine as the hardest-drinking city in the U.S., in part because of 50,000 University of Texas students’ love affair with alcohol. As this anecdote shows, the traditional college experience is fraught with challenges that can be spiritual, financial, and academic. It is no surprise, then, that anti-college sentiment is common within the home school community, which is fearful of higher education undoing years of training and character building. Post-graduation alternatives to college, such as apprenticeship, online degrees, and working entry-level jobs, are often vigorously promoted.

My parents and I wrestled with my post-graduation plans, and I chose attending a private Christian college for four years, graduating in May 2008 with a business technology degree. I had to get school loans, but I landed a job with a prestigious accounting/auditing firm as an information technology auditor that will launch my career and enable me to pay off my loans in a timely manner.

My decision to go to college was a fairly easy one. Despite the challenges inherent in college, earning a marketable college degree is generally the best option for the average home school graduate seeking to provide financially for his future family. (For young women who wish to be stay-at-home moms like my own mother, college is still a great option, but not a necessity.) With the forces of globalization and trends in the workforce, college is becoming almost a necessity when applying for good jobs.

For example, search online job boards or classified ads in your local newspaper for jobs that earn more than $35,000. The vast majority will require a college degree. It’s that simple. I know of several home school dads who wanted to switch careers for years but were trapped in blue-collar jobs. Why? They never earned a college degree, and every other career option they pursued either paid less than they currently earned or required a college degree. Experience in the field is many times not enough to bypass the degree requirement. Is this fair? I don’t think so, but it’s how the work world operates.

Another trend in the workforce is the tens of thousands of international students who earn college degrees and seek American jobs. This influx makes competition for good jobs fierce. As a personal example, of the dozen or so college seniors with whom I competed to be hired by my current employer, four were chosen: two extremely bright international students from Asia and two American students, including myself. Many of my coworkers at this firm originally came from Africa, Mongolia, Russia, India, or China as international students seeking a better life in America. These international students are college-educated, bilingual, and determined to find good jobs in the U.S. If you are competing with them for good jobs but never earned a college degree, your chances are slim.

Of course, there are exceptions. The healthcare industry is a notable exception because of the shortage of workers and the aging of Baby Boomers. Qualifications for some lower-level healthcare positions, such as Licensed Practical Nurses, often do not require a four-year degree, and the pay can be relatively high because of the demand for workers. In addition, learning a trade or working with a trusted employer may provide income for the present—but what happens when an injury, advances in technology, or outsourcing causes the loss of a job? With no college degree, job seekers thrust out of a trade will find themselves trapped in low-wage, blue-collar work, unable to access other basic jobs that require a college degree. Thus, for better or for worse, a college education has become the primary requirement for the majority of good-paying jobs in today’s economy.

Fortunately, there are new and flexible ways to earn a college degree. I paid for my college education through hefty academic scholarships, a CLEP exam, work-study programs, two internships, and student loans. Many of my college friends transferred into residential programs after spending the first year or two earning college credit through PSEO (Post-Secondary Enrollment Options), AP (Advanced Placement), CLEP (College Level Examination Program), accredited distance education, or a local community college. Doug Phillips of Vision Forum recently endorsed CollegePlus!, a Christian-based educational alternative that helps students earn fully accredited degrees using distance education, CLEP, and DANTES (Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support) exams.

There are two caveats, though. First, avoid diploma mills and unaccredited online degrees that leave you with a piece of paper that means nothing to employers.  Second, earn a marketable degree, or at least gain relevant work experience in college that will turn into a full-time position after college. With the counsel of my parents, I decided to major in Management Information Systems, a white-hot degree that interested me. Unfortunately, many of my college friends earned degrees in subjects they enjoyed, such as history or literature, but they did not plan how they could use their degrees to find work after college. Now, my fellow graduates are scrambling to find jobs.

In the end, although college has gotten a bad rap, it is still one of the best options for home school graduates, especially future home school dads, who can use creative ways to earn their degrees and prepare for the future. Sadly, much of the anti-college sentiment intended to benefit the next generation of home schoolers might actually harm it in the long run. By saving money and time in the short-term by eschewing college, home school graduates may one day find themselves trapped in dead-end jobs that make it financially difficult for them to homeschool their own children. It often takes sacrifice to secure a better future. That is why I labored for four years to earn a marketable college degree—so that I can support my own family one day and homeschool my children for years to come.

Editor’s note: Interested in a different viewpoint? Go to www.thsc.org/Getting_Started/CollegeIsPower.asp and read about some things to consider before going to college.

Meet Christopher Perdue

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