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There's nothing wrong with a vocational education if you approach it with the right vision. Work for someone else, learn the business, save money and look for the right conditions in which to start youre own business.

You're absolutely right. I guess what galls me about the notion that everyone must be pushed towards college is that I started out with vocational ed (electronics technician), worked as a bench tech for a number of years, went back to college to get an engineering degree and now own my own engineering consulting business.

While attending a 4-year college, I saw many kids that were pushed into college right after high school that didn't belong there, and many of them dropped out soon after their freshman year (the college I went to had a 50% freshman dropout rate). That would have been me had I taken that route right after high school.

Agreed. I know that I would have done much better in college if I had gotten a taste of the real world before I went. Theres nothing like trying to pay the bills working a minimum wage job doing something that you really dont enjoy to motivate you to take your education seriously.

I was working part time at a audio/video electronics store during college. I went to work full time and quit school because it was fun and I was making some money. I got paid minimum wage or commission, whichever was more. Business slowed down about the time I realized that I wasnt cut out for retail sales work(I grew up on a farm). When I went back to school I attacked it with a vengeance rather than just doing it because it had to be done.