Part 1 | By Cliff Rice | Rice Operations
Your degree comes with a bill.
At seventeen or eighteen, you are encouraged to make a decision that can shape your finances for years. Choose a school. Choose a major. Sign for the money. Trust that a future employer will pay enough to make the purchase worthwhile.
But do you know what work you want to do? Have you experienced it? Do you understand the loan you are considering?
Before borrowing to explore your future, consider a different starting point: learn a trade, earn money, and discover your options through actual work.
The college experience has a sales pitch
For years, students hear that college is the next step toward success. By graduation, enrollment can feel more like an obligation than a purchase that needs careful examination.
Then comes the promise of independence: leave home, find your people, join a fraternity or sorority, attend parties, and enjoy campus life.
Those attractions can influence a decision before a student seriously evaluates the degree, its cost, or the work it prepares them to do.
But a social experience is not a repayment plan.
Separate the experience you want to enjoy from the education you need to purchase. Understand which parts you are financing.
My concern is that college recruitment can exploit young people’s hopes and uncertainty. The dream is easy to sell. The student must live with the financial consequences.
What responsibility does the seller carry?
Imagine buying a phone that cannot make calls. You would expect the seller to address the problem.
Now consider an education purchased as preparation for a career. What happens when the instruction is poor, the material is outdated, or the graduate lacks the skills needed for the intended job?
Students are told to participate and apply themselves. They should. But that should not excuse inadequate instruction or inflated promises.
Universities can face legal claims for deception or breaking specific promises. That is different from a dissatisfied graduate automatically receiving a refund because the education proved disappointing or commercially unhelpful.
There is no automatic return policy for a degree that does not produce the opportunity you expected.
The school has collected tuition. You must find a way to make the purchase worthwhile. If you borrowed, build your plan around repaying that money.
Before enrolling, demand more than an inspiring story. Ask what graduates actually do, what employers require, and how the program teaches the skills you need.
A paycheck while you explore
Starting with a trade gives you a chance to test the work while developing useful skills.
Depending on the occupation, an employer may hire you as a helper or trainee and teach you alongside experienced workers. Other roles require formal training, credentials, or licensing. Check the requirements for the work you want to pursue.
You learn what the job feels like on an ordinary day. You discover whether you enjoy it, can handle its demands, and want to become better at it.
And you receive a paycheck while making those discoveries.
Getting paid to explore a career can be a better starting point than financing years of education before trying the work.
As you progress, you can identify a specific class or certification that qualifies you for another task or strengthens your case for greater responsibility and better pay. Confirm that employers value it before purchasing it.
Work. Learn. Identify the next skill. Train. Apply it. Advance.
Do not confuse salary with financial position
A degree does not guarantee that you will earn more than a skilled tradesperson. A degree without a clear connection to the work you intend to pursue is especially difficult to evaluate as an investment.
Even a higher salary after graduation does not automatically mean you are financially ahead.
Compare the whole picture: training costs, educational debt, interest, time before full-time earnings, benefits, working hours, and money available to save.
A worker who starts earning earlier and avoids substantial tuition debt can establish savings while someone else is still studying or repaying loans. That head start matters.
The outcome depends on the particular career and circumstances. The point is to calculate rather than assume that “degree” means “better financial future.”
College should serve a defined purpose
If your goal is to become a physician, lawyer, or another professional whose work requires higher education, pursue the necessary education with a clear plan and serious commitment.
College belongs in that plan because the work requires it—not simply because attending is expected.
For someone still exploring, my preference is direct employment with a company that develops useful skills. Apprenticeships, union routes, and trade schools are secondary options to evaluate against that opportunity.
In my experience, a program’s label does not establish a worker’s competence or flexibility. Examine the training, wages, benefit arrangements, fees, obligations, and opportunities to advance.
You do not need to buy a college experience to prove you have ambition.
Learn something people need. Earn while you develop. Purchase further education when you can explain exactly what it will help you do.
In Part Two, we will look at how that skill can become the foundation of a business—and why greater freedom requires greater responsibility.
Rice Operations helps young people and working adults develop career direction, workplace skills, and a practical plan for advancement. Build Skills. Create Opportunity. Grow Careers.