Why Drown In College Debt When You Could Thrive In A Trade? Jobs in skilled trades are well-paying, satisfying, and widely available

The Federalist ^ | 02/24/2023 | Kent Starwalt

[SeekAndFind]

There’s a common misconception that a college degree is the main route to a successful career, but jobs in skilled trades are well-paying, satisfying, and widely available.

Student loan debt has almost quadrupled over the last two decades and is now far outpacing auto loans and credit card debt in the U.S., according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. More than $1.7 trillion in student loans could turn into a debt crisis for America, which raises the question: Do all students need to go to college to have a successful career?

There’s a common misconception that a college degree is the main route to a successful career. While a four-year college degree is a great fit for many Americans, it’s not the right option for everyone. Too often, recent college graduates search for a well-paying job and discover their degree’s value isn’t what they expected, and they’re stuck with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt. Middle school and high school students should consider their future and weigh all the options, including broadening their considerations to include a career path in the trades. For example, a pipefitter earns $68,000 on average and that number can grow past six figures in some trade fields.

Today, more than half of America’s students finish higher education with debt, and it takes them a long time to pay it off. In 2022, the average federal student loan debt was $37,358. Per the Education Data Initiative, the average federal student loan interest rate in 2023 is 6.36 percent. The interest rate among all federal student loans increased 24 percent — up from 4.12 percent — between the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years. The median annual salary in the U.S. by age bracket is $35,568 for full-time workers from age 20-24 and $50,700 for 25-34, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Using Nerd Wallet’s discretionary income calculator, a $37,358 annual salary would estimate 20 percent of your discretionary income at $366 a month. Dave Ramsey’s student loan payoff calculator estimates that at that salary it will take a student until June 2035 to pay off their student loans, including paying $16,555 in interest on top of the principal.   

To remain competitive, our nation needs to prepare our citizens to meet workforce demands, including the demands in the trade industries. In my state of Tennessee, along with many other well-run states in the country, we continue to see population growth from inbound moves. As a result, the construction industry is booming, which also means there are tremendous job opportunities in the trades, including home building, commercial construction, road building, and more.

Hiring Now

Contrary to perception, these jobs are not all heavy-duty. There are design careers, drone operator jobs, and many other career pathways. Road builders, equipment operators, surveyors, carpenters, boilermakers, electricians, plumbers, welders, and cement and brick masons — the career paths in the trades are varied and companies are hiring for these positions now.

One of the best parts about the trades is that you can start earning an income on day one. Many companies offer their own training programs and apprenticeships to students. In Tennessee, we offer more than 100 training programs for the trades and there are many other opportunities for on-the-job training.

Many states around the country need more skilled workers to meet demand. The trades industry labor workforce is both shrinking and aging — with the average tradesperson being 46 years old. Furthermore, only one tradesperson is entering the industry for every five that are retiring. The demand has never been greater, with millions of workers needed across the country.

We also need more women entering the trades. Females currently make up only 10 percent of the construction labor force.

Many Benefits

Currently, 90 percent of apprentices in the trades find jobs when they’ve finished their training. Commercial construction tradespeople are being paid on average 33 percent more than the average worker. Another benefit of being in the trades is that workers can progress in their careers to a leadership level within a company or take their experience and start their own business.

People from all walks of life have the opportunity to enter a high-quality, high-paying career path in the trades from the start, with no student loan debt. They can fill important roles in building communities across the nation, and address the need for certified craft professionals with technical skills.

How to Find Such Work

Our organization, Go Build Tennessee, is a nonprofit focused on promoting pathways of success for students graduating from high school and those already out of school who do not plan or need to attend a four-year university. The trades are also a great opportunity for those looking to change career paths because they are not able to find a quality job in the field they studied or simply desire a career change.

We encourage young people all across the country to consider careers in the skilled trades. They should connect with related nonprofits, state departments of labor and workforce development, local chambers, and companies involved in the trades to learn more about their state’s career paths and training programs.

States should provide students with training in the trades, as Tennessee does, starting with Career Technical Education courses in middle and high school to help expose students to the trades and then through training programs and apprenticeships to help students enter the trades.

We’ll be launching a job quiz tool in early March to help those considering the trades to learn about the dozens of career paths that are available after high school. It will include information about average salaries and training commitments. We encourage all students to explore their options, review training programs, and talk with people in the industry to hear about their experiences and their career.

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Kent Starwalt serves as executive vice president of the Tennessee Road Builders Association and is an ex officio board member of the nonprofit Go Build Tennessee. You can follow the organization on Instagram at @gobuildtennessee.

[Red Badger]

Plumbers, HVAC, Welders, Machinists, Electronic Techs, lots of choices............................

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Plumbers, HVAC, Welders, Machinists, Electronic Techs, lots of choices............................

OK, just as Female Gymnasts are great till they reach their early twenties, Tennis Players are great till they reach their mid to late 30’s, same as Boxers, Basketball and Football Players and other athletes, how long can the tradesmen listed above last before they reach their over-the-hill age?

[Skwor]

Best kept secret and the horror of teachers / the elite everywhere. They hate the unwashed trades.

Been in the crafts for 40 years, mentoring and teaching for 20 of them. Where I work now the crafts can make 190k a year when willing to work overtime.

Better yet, they also learn life skills to maintain their house, car and other critical life features. Unlike their counterparts who go to college only to become indoctrinated adult children.

[KingLudd]

If I had to redo, I would learn to weld exotic metals.

[V_TWIN]

Never got farther than a year of junior college trade school (although back then High school was more like college prep than it is today) spent my entire career in trades and was able to retire at 59 1/2.

Trades aren’t for everyone, just like college isn’t either but there is absolutely NO shame in being a tradesman......I’m damn proud of it.

[DIRTYSECRET]

A good number of jobs are ‘unskilled’. We need people to do the grunt work.

[Skwor]

Plumbers, HVAC, Welders, Machinists, Electronic Techs, etc...

All of them well into their 60’s. I know many that age.

[Skwor]

If you think the trades are grunt work you have no idea what a craft / trade is.

[PGR88]

I know two Korean men - immigrated to the USA as teens to study at a local state university. They graduated, saw they had been fleeced for full tuition for a useless degree, which might get them a low pay job in an office somewhere.

Instead, they decided to sign on with a local home builder. Started laying foundations, doing framing, hanging dry-wall, running electricity - all to learn the trade.

They said - the only thing college taught us was that we could make a lot more $$ not going to college.

Now they run their own building company, building high-end houses and renovations. They showed me pix of a $250K backyard patio and outdoor kitchen (!!) they built at a local NFL player’s house.

[metmom]

I have had people in the trades tell me that if you are good in them, you can easily make six figures with no shortage of work opportunities since there is such a high demand for them.

[econjack]

Perhaps the most underutilized trade training institution is the US military. Yeah, I realize there are risks, but if you are of average intelligence or above, you can train in a trade that is in high demand when you get out. Meanwhile, you earn while you learn and have room and board thrown in. For a lot of people, it really is a good option.

[Hot Tabasco]

My nephew's son was fortunate that his HS offered after school welding starting in his junior year since he never would have been able to succeed in college.

He then went on to the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology in Ohio which was a 9 month, full time program. Tuition was approx. $30,000 but it's almost paid off already and the job offers were incredible.

[Jim W N]

Why Drown In College Debt When You Could Thrive In A Trade?

Unless you are your own boss, reasons why I took on a college degree and debt...

- I am my own boss (if you don't like having a boss which I don't)

- Potential freedom depending in my career path. I find a satisfying degree of freedom in my job as an Attorney (criminal defense).

[Mr.Unique]

True, but it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. You may have to deal with union meatheads, drunks, druggies, cyclical work, etc.

[Pollard]

It starts hurting when you hit your 50s. Then you’re expected to work until 65/67 in pain.

[Crusher138]

My son had wanted to be a teacher.

Ended up at an exclusive pre-school. They charged $500 a week. They still didn’t pay their teachers well. After a few broken promises, he decided to go into the elevator trade.

It was difficult to get into - they have a rigorous screening process - but even with zero trade experience, he scored well enough to make it in. In his first year they were installing elevators in an Amazon warehouse. As an apprentice he made over $100K in his first full year.

Funny thing, since he is technically orientated and has a college degree, management keeps trying to steal him away. He was recently offered - he is still not yet a journeyman and has only been at this for two years - a management position paying over $200K plus benefits. He wants to become a journeyman before even considering moving into management.

[Terry L Smith]

Apprenticeships are time honored. Instead of having a 6 month boring class to acquire credits towaards a degree, you can sign on to a program that teaches you evdrything you need to do a job, make a wage, a standing in the profession, and all based on you, not some college pinhead. You will earn rank, become listed with others of your qualifications,
and you can market your skills, in time.

Even in the military, apprenticeships exist. I made my ‘journeyman’ equivalent in 5 years.

[Mr.Unique]

I took on a college degree and debt...

They don't always go hand-in-hand. I have a BS and two MS and never paid a dime. DoD, VA, and General Dynamics paid.

[JimDaniels1867]

I barely graduated high school ,but I can turn a wrench , troubleshoot PLC controlled machines, read hydraulic and electrical schematics, weld tig mig and stick, run a bridgeport and lathe. Urban trash will call me a redneck but I make way more money than many college grads. Unless you are going to college for a skill it’s waste of money and time. I was an apprentice Millwright for 2 years. I got paid great money to learn my skills.