Private University or Trade school?

[jvalentine98]

So...Harvard or your local trade school? It may shock you, but you can earn good money as an electrician, a welder or plumber. And, you don't have to spend your income paying back those ridiculous student loans for the next 25 years.

I'm bringing this up because some friends of mine were debating on whether it was worth it to go to a top notch private university, or just learn a trade. A school like MIT, Yale or Harvard carries a certain distinction, but a good trade is more practical for a lot of people. Nothing wrong with earning a cool $70K a year with old fashioned blue collar work. There's people out there who would kill for that salary.

You can spend 6-8 years earning a Master's Degree, or get a certificate in 2 years and be earning a good living much faster, with more demand in your field. In a real world sense, there's a listing every week in your local paper for a skilled worker. The higher up jobs are more of a "who you know" type hit or miss. I'm not sure I'd want to wager my family's or my own livelihood on that.

[Sano]

I say trade school. I went to one personally and I got a lot out of the electronics and A+/NET+ classes I went through. My local community college took those credits and I only had to take a semester of classes to get my A.A.S.

[dsheinem]

depends what you want to do...

[BoneSnapDeez]

depends what you want to do...

Uh, yeah...

There's also a huge gap between Harvard/MIT/Yale and trade school that could be filled with, ya know, a bunch of other schools and institutions.

[Sload Soap]

So...Harvard or your local trade school? It may shock you, but you can earn good money as an electrician, a welder or plumber. And, you don't have to spend your income paying back those ridiculous student loans for the next 25 years.

I'm bringing this up because some friends of mine were debating on whether it was worth it to go to a top notch private university, or just learn a trade. A school like MIT, Yale or Harvard carries a certain distinction, but a good trade is more practical for a lot of people. Nothing wrong with earning a cool $70K a year with old fashioned blue collar work. There's people out there who would kill for that salary.

You can spend 6-8 years earning a Master's Degree, or get a certificate in 2 years and be earning a good living much faster, with more demand in your field. In a real world sense, there's a listing every week in your local paper for a skilled worker. The higher up jobs are more of a "who you know" type hit or miss. I'm not sure I'd want to wager my family's or my own livelihood on that.

I'm sure this happened on an episode of the Gilmore Girls.

[Opa Opa]

Unless you're getting a free ride or you come from old money, there's not much of a reason to get into a private university (that I've seen anyway).

[Luke]

depends what you want to do...

+1

You do also understand that many major Universities have construction management majors, right? They also have concentrations, so it might not exactly be called a PhD in plumbing, but that's the equivalent of the concentration.

[ZeroAX]

University because it's free.....oh wait

[BoneSnapDeez]

That's why Greece is bankrupt!!!

[ZeroAX]

That's why Greece is bankrupt!!!

Not really, but their poor quality is part of the reason.