By now, you’ve probably heard the buzz: more and more young people are rethinking the traditional four-year college route—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Take Nush Ahmed, for example. At just 22, she made a bold decision to step away from the expected path and enroll in a career technical education program—800 miles away from her family in Buffalo, New York. Her Bangladeshi immigrant parents, like many well-meaning folks, had visions of her becoming a doctor or engineer. But Nush had a different calling.
And that, my friends, is what this is all about: listening to your internal compass instead of external expectations.
She completed a program at the Universal Technical Institute in North Carolina and now works in precision manufacturing, earning about $60,000 a year—and loving what she does. She even hosts a podcast to encourage others to explore trade careers. That’s living with clarity and purpose.
Her father, initially skeptical, now says: “If kids want to try a short-term school, they should let them do it and see how it goes… They should follow their dreams.”
That’s a refreshing message.
The Numbers Tell a Story
According to data from American Student Assistance, only 45% of teens say they’re interested in college at all. Fourteen percent are already planning to attend a trade or apprenticeship program, and another 38% are seriously considering it.
But here’s the disconnect: while students are open to nontraditional paths, many parents are still stuck in the “college-or-bust” mentality.
In fact, Gallup data shows most families don’t even realize the wide range of viable career options outside the ivory tower.
That’s a problem. Especially when student debt continues to soar—college tuition has doubled since 2000. Compare that to the $15,000 average cost of a trade school program, and the math becomes very real.
What’s Driving the Shift?
For many young people, it’s a combination of factors:
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The burden of student debt
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A desire to work with their hands and make a real-world impact
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The opportunity to earn while they learn through apprenticeships
