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HIGH SCHOOL FINANCIAL PLANNING UPDATE # 181—Impact of Career Choice on Economic Well-Being

MESSAGE FROM FLASHMAN: The need for lifelong learning has never been more important than today, with most high-paying, low-education manufacturing jobs going out of the country. However, not everyone needs to go to college. Many high school graduates who do receive college degrees end up with unmanageable debt because there are few jobs in the field they majored in or the jobs do not pay well. At the same time, many high school graduates do not go on to college, or for technical or vocational training, because many of those from low-income families think they cannot afford it. They do not realize that scholarship money and low-cost financial assistance is available; or that the right college degree will increase a graduate's lifetime income by more than $1 million.

We as educators need to help teenagers consider all their options for postsecondary education and find ways to pay for it. We in Extension also play an important role in informal, lifelong learning. Examples of financial illiteracy are everywhere: in the increase of filings for bankruptcy, as well as in the number of people who borrow from cash advance businesses at an annual percentage rate as high as 390%. The typical teenager has no idea of all the different occupations out there; and without our assistance, many will end up making minimum wage. We can either “teach them how to fish” so they can earn a decent living, or we can give them government assistance and charity all their life.

This week’s update is a continuation of our series on the value and funding of postsecondary education. We have hired UK freshman Erin Burch to work with the HSFPP so we can continue to provide a teenager’s perspective in selecting topics and writing the weekly updates.

MESSAGE FROM ERIN: My name is Erin Burch and I am so excited to be working with the High School Financial Planning Program! I see college as a very important step in life, but I believe happiness is the only thing that can make your life worthwhile. I think that one of the most important things for kids of all backgrounds to know is that college is an option for everyone, although this option might not be the right road for everyone. I am glad to be able to talk to teenagers as a fellow teen and help select topics that I think would interest them.

 

Web Site Pick of the Week:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/

This is the Web site for the Occupational Outlook Handbook. This nationally recognized source of career information forecasts how well each occupation is likely to do in the future in terms of numbers of jobs likely to be added or lost in a field; it tells how much people in a profession are paid, the level of education and training needed, etc. This is exactly the kind of information students need when planning for their education, training, and career.

 

In the New$… Impact of Career Choice on Economic Well-Being

by Erin Burch

I am a freshman at the University of Kentucky majoring in finance, but I am considering majoring in journalism also. In writing biweekly financial stories for my peers, I want to see if I have a talent for writing and whether I like writing financial education stories. This will help me decide whether to combine these two majors and should let me know, before I spend four years in college, whether I’m really good at this and if I want to choose it as my career. I also want to help limit the amount of debt that I’ll have when I graduate by getting paid to do something I always wanted to try.

If you plan to go to college, think of it as an opportunity to try out new careers. You don’t have to know right away what you want to do, and being open to a variety of careers can be a good thing, especially if it encourages you to learn about many subjects.

Most teenagers like me want a career that pays well, and the best-known path to such a career is a college education; at least that’s what my parents have always told me. In researching for this article, I learned that fifty percent of graduating students have loans to pay off, at an average of $10,000 per student, according to www.studentdoc.com. I also learned that “One in 10 students at private college owe more than $40,000,” according to http://money.cnn.com.

The Committee of Education and Labor in the U.S. House of Representatives states that financial loans account for “52 percent of all college aid to undergraduate students,” and this will surely increase because college tuition continues to increase (over a period of five years there was a 35 percent increase in tuition at four-year public institutions). But, this could change if students would look first into different financial outlets funding college, such as scholarships, work study programs, or low-cost financial assistance. Scholarships don’t necessarily go to the smartest students. Many of my friends and I were able to earn scholarships through KEES (Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship) that allows any student earning a 2.5 or higher GPA in high school money towards their college education; you just need to be willing to work hard in school. With the work study program, students in financial need are able to work for money that goes towards their education expenses. Many times these jobs are geared toward the student’s major, which can in turn lead to the benefit of experience. These options allow students to find ways around expensive student loans that can build up and lead toward a never-ending pit of debt.

But college isn’t always the answer. Some blue collar jobs are still in high demand, despite an unpromising growth forecast overall compared with white collar jobs. While college is seen by many as the best option, blue collar jobs are overlooked and people have become less and less interested in them, leading to a shortage in workers. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that by the year 2012 there will be over a million new job openings in construction. According to MSN Money, “those who have developed the skills for the best blue collar jobs – largely mechanics, installers and equipment operators – find they’re doing better than the average American,” blue- or white-collar. They find an average pay of over $27 per hour for the top-ten blue collar jobs, which is 30 percent higher than America’s average income.

All in all, students would do well to make their choices about their future based heavily upon their source of happiness. Finding a job that makes you happy ultimately makes your life happy. This should be the key component in finding a profession, whether that leads you to college or not. Let’s say you think you want to be a nurse, but you’re not sure. In that case, you might want to work as a nurse’s aid after school, on weekends, or during the summer to see what nurses really do and to see if this is what you want to do, before you spend two years in a community college or four years in a university to get your degree in nursing. And, while working as a nurse’s aid, you will be able to talk with nurses who have received both types of training so you can get an idea which type of program might be best for you.

College loans are a wonderful resource for many students, but they can become a trap for young working people. Without the assurance of a career that you personally would enjoy, you might want to think twice about taking on the cost of college, at least until you’ve worked a year or two and have a better idea what profession you would like to pursue.

The same might be true in working at a job with your hands. You might find out the work is more demanding than you thought or that you don’t like working in the cold or the heat. If you find you want a job inside, where the temperature is always 70 degrees, your career choices will be different.

Sources: (1) “Reducing Student Loan Debt”
http://www.studentdoc.com/student-loan-debt.html

(2) “Take control of college debt,” by George Mannes, 8/30/06.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/2006/09/01/8384574/index.htm

(3) “Student Loans: Students Are Struggling” http://www.house.gov/ed_workforce/micro/sl_struggle.shtml

(4) “The 10 best-paying blue-collar jobs,” by Forbes.com: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Forbes/The10BestPayingBlueCollarJobs.aspx

 

Discussion Questions:

1.) Do you plan to attend a college, university, or community/technical college after high school? Yes___ No___ Please explain why or why not.

 

2.) What are some careers or jobs that interest you?

 

3.) What are your career or job expectations? (How much annual salary/wages, what benefits, what job conditions, etc.)

 

4a.) Do you feel any expectation from others for your education or career that you aren’t comfortable with? Yes___ No___ From whom?

 

4b.) If so, how could you deal with that in a way that allows you to follow the path you want for yourself?

 

Follow-Up Activity:

You can research careers on http://www.bls.gov/oco/, the Web site for the Occupational Outlook Handbook. This nationally recognized source of career information forecasts how well each occupation is likely to do in the future in terms of numbers of jobs likely to be added or lost in a field; it tells how much people in a profession are paid, the level of education and training needed, etc. This is exactly the kind of information students need when planning for their education, training, and career.

 

Follow-up Questions:

Choose an occupation that might interest you, but that you know little about, and answer the following questions:

1.) Training needed: List high school courses, if required, and other types of education and training beyond high school.

 

2.) Job outlook:

 

3.) How much earnings you can expect: beginning wage or salary; median salary; and apprentice salary, if appropriate.

 

For extra credit, research more careers that interest you and answer the questions above about each one.

 

Kentucky High School Financial Planning Program

http://www.ca.uky.edu/fcs/hsfp

The purpose of the HSFPP weekly financial updates and Web site is to assist county Extension agents, credit union educators, high school teachers, and parents who home school their teenagers so that they may improve the economic well-being of our teenagers; and also to show educators how the HSFPP and the weekly updates meet Kentucky core concepts. The Web site and weekly updates are provided by the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, and are free to all educators. The list of core concepts and order form for free program materials including the student guide and instructors manual can be found on the Kentucky HSFPP home page.