Kids are ditching traditional college for career tech programs. Parents are concerned.

USA Today

9 hours ago

Kids are ditching traditional college for career tech programs. Parents are concerned.
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More teens are showing interest in vocational training and other non-college options after high school.
Parents tend to favor traditional four-year colleges over non-degree career paths, according to a new survey from nonprofit American Student Assistance.
Financial concerns and a desire for hands-on work are driving some students toward technical education.
Nush Ahmed, 22, said she was "stubborn" when she went against her parents' wishes and chose to attend a career technical program 800 miles from home instead of enrolling in a traditional four-year college nearby.
Her parents, who live in Buffalo, New York, and immigrated from Bangladesh, said they believed a bachelor's degree was the only path to success.
But Ahmed insisted. She's one of a growing number of high school graduates turning to technical schools over two or four-year colleges at a time of spiraling student debt and new incentives for vocational education.
Ahmed's choice to forego college and pursue a career working in manufacturing made her an outlier in her South Asian immigrant community, where most parents expect young women to attend college near home, she said.
"I was hoping that time she would go to either medical school or engineering college to become a doctor or engineer," said her father, Shuhel Ahmed. "But she really wanted to go into to this career, so I finally decided to let her go."
By the numbers: How do kids and parents feel about career technical education programs?
New survey data from the nonprofit American Student Assistance shows that teen interest in college is down while interest in nondegree paths is on the rise.
Meanwhile, parents are skeptical of options outside of the traditional college pathway to work.
Nearly half of all students surveyed – 45% – weren't interested in going to college. About 14% said they planned to attend trade or technical schools, apprenticeships and technical bootcamp programs and 38% were considering those options.
Some 66% of teens surveyed said parents supported their plans to pursue a nondegree route compared with 82% whose parents encouraged them to attend college.
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Seventy percent said their parents were more supportive of foregoing education altogether right after high school rather than pursuing a nondegree program.
Young people told USA TODAY that finances, along with the desire to enter the workforce without more classroom-type academics, were among their reasons for choosing technical education.
The financial burden of college was on Andrew Townsend's mind when he opted out of college.
Townsend graduated from high school in Golden, Colorado, this June and decided against college, saying he wanted to go to work right away.
The choice was easy for Townsend, 19, because he was offered an apprenticeship as a manufacturing technician for printer manufacturer Lexmark during his senior year through his school's career and technical education program. That turned into an 18-month internship.
"When I went into high school I anticipated going to college and going into biology or sports management," Townsend said. "But I can't sit still in a class, and I want to get my hands dirty and get into work. It's financially best for me right now."
More: Is the push for career education prioritizing business over students?
His dad, construction worker Corey Townsend, wasn't sure what path his son would take, but he supports Andrew's choice.
"My family doesn't have the most amount of money," Andrew Townsend said. "Maybe if I want to go to college later on in life, that's a choice. But for now I want to focus on myself and make my life better for me."
College costs vs. career technical education costs
At the nation's public colleges and universities, the average cost for in-state tuition is $9,750 per year and and the average cost for out-of-state tuition is $28,386, according to researchers at the Education Data Initiative. The price tag is higher at private colleges. The average cost of tuition and fees at those schools is $38,421,.
The Education Data Initiative estimates college tuition has doubled in the 21st century.
The costs of career technical education varies widely by trade and program. The average cost of a complete trade school program's tuition and fees was $15,070 during the 2022-2023 school year, according to data from the federal Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics.
The Trump administration advances non-college options
As parents and teens navigate their post-college options, President Donald Trump and his administration have championed career technical programs as a viable alternative to traditional two-year and four-year colleges.
"Under my leadership, America will once again champion a culture where hard work is rewarded and equip our people with real skills for real careers that our communities are in desperate need to fill," Trump said in a Feb. 3 statement. "By offering more alternatives to higher education, we will train college-aged kids in relevant skills for the 21st century economy."
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During Trump's first term, he signed a bill called the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act into law. The law allows the federal government to provide states and local communities funding to enhance career and technical education programming.
This term, the Trump administration announced it is reversing two Biden-era regulations that require states and local career technical education programs at high schools and community colleges to change the way they report on student progress to receive federal funding.
What to do after high school ...if you're not heading straight to college
'They should let them follow their dreams'
New survey data from Gallup, Walton Family Foundation and Jobs for the Future of 1,327 teens shows that most high school students and their parents are unaware of their post-high school options outside of the traditional four-year college path.
The uncertainty resonated with Ahmed's father, who saw college as the only pathway to success for his daughter.
Father and daughter now agree the path she chose has afforded her immense opportunity. If she could go back in time, Ahmed said, she would be less harsh on her parents for pushing college.
Ahmed is enjoying the success that has come from completing a technical education program at the Universal Technical Institute, formerly known as NASCAR Technical Institute, in North Carolina.
She works at a precision manufacturing company that specializes in metal and polymer 3D printing and has a podcast that highlights young people pursuing trade options after high school. She earns about $60,000 a year at her day job.
"With the way she has gone through this and how she is doing now, I would say to parents that if kids want to try a short term school they should let them do and then see how it goes," Ahmed's father said. "If it goes well then great and if not, there's time to change. But they should let them follow their dreams."
Contact Kayla Jimenez at [e-mail]. Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.