College vs skilled trades.

[Jbrow327]

There seems to be a lot of hype around skilled trades lately. I think it's just that, hype. People will recommend learning a trade over getting a good college degree. I don't get it. Everyone and their mother claim these tradesmen are making 100k a year. A simple look at BLS average salaries says otherwise.

I'm not saying they're not needed. I'm just saying I think they have become overrated as career options lately.

What do you guys think?


EDIT: Now, obviously, if you get a worthless degree then a skilled trade would be way better.

 

[cmahoney]

I think a PHD in gender studies is totally worth it, even if you take out 300K in student loans. We need to build back better and that means education over work.


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[back country]

This is going to get interesting fast


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[Eltigreblanco]

There seems to be a lot of hype around skilled trades lately. I think it's just that, hype. People will recommend learning a trade over getting a good college degree. I don't get it. Everyone and their mother claim these tradesmen are making 100k a year. A simple look at BLS average salaries says otherwise.

I'm not saying they're not needed. I'm just saying I think they have become overrated as career options lately.

What do you guys think?

I went and got my bachelor's degree in education, and was a teacher for a few years. I decided that was not the right path for me. I went back through the ibew apprenticeship program. My total package is over $80 an hour. I make over 100k a year, and I will be able to retire at 55 comfortably. This is very much dependent on your location.

 

[Eltigreblanco]

Wait for some of the guys in the bay area to chime in and say what they make

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

I am a civil engineer and make about 85k plus some profit sharing into a retirement plan that’s 8 years out of college I started at 55k so I could see some benefit to not going if you enjoyed a trade and started right away. As others have stated this could be location dependent. Also depends on what college costs you. College debt is something that seriously needs to be considered vs what you will make. I did it debt free by working so that made it pay for me. I won’t push my kids one way or another as long as they are not being bums or something like that with no plan.

 

[260madman]

How much side work are you going to get with a degree in underwater basket weaving or African American Lesbian Art degree? Plenty of side work in the trades for cash.

Movie/TV production degree from Columbia University takes some people $325k in student loans. They get a job somewhere for $30k/yr after graduating and can’t afford the loan payments. Columbia says the degree is totally worth the cost.

 

[grappling_hook]

I think a PHD in gender studies is totally worth it, even if you take out 300K in student loans. We need to build back better and that means education over work.


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There are a lot of lucrative opportunities right now for graduates with gender studies degrees in areas like equity and compliance, consulting agencies, corporate HR, grants agencies, higher education administration, social services, and the list goes on. Plus graduates in those areas (along with general humanities and liberal arts majors) typically complete with less debt than students in other areas. Most of the massive student loan default, $150K+ debts, and other student loan debt “crisis” cases come from students in professional graduate studies areas, especially law, medicine, and business, who drop out before finishing or can’t find jobs to cover the massive debt coming out of those programs.

In response to OP, I don’t think skilled trades opportunities are overhyped, it’s just that we’re looking at a shortage in the coming 5-15 years in those areas. Plus it’s an area of opportunity that a lot of young people aren’t raised around, so the efforts are to let them know that it’s a great option for a lot of people.

 

[*zap*]

All this education sure made the USA soft...back in the day the middleclass blue collar folk were the backbone of the country. Now it is all about how e-z can folks have it.....jmo.

 

[cmahoney]

There are a lot of lucrative opportunities right now for graduates with gender studies degrees in areas like equity and compliance, consulting agencies, corporate HR, grants agencies, higher education administration, social services, and the list goes on. Plus graduates in those areas (along with general humanities and liberal arts majors) typically complete with less debt than students in other areas. Most of the massive student loan default, $150K+ debts, and other student loan debt “crisis” cases come from students in professional graduate studies areas, especially law, medicine, and business, who drop out before finishing or can’t find jobs to cover the massive debt coming out of those programs.

In response to OP, I don’t think skilled trades opportunities are overhyped, it’s just that we’re looking at a shortage in the coming 5-15 years in those areas. Plus it’s an area of opportunity that a lot of young people aren’t raised around, so the efforts are to let them know that it’s a great option for a lot of people.

My point exactly


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[Eltigreblanco]

All this education sure made the USA soft...back in the day the middleclass blue collar folk were the backbone of the country. Now it is all about how e-z can folks have it.....jmo.

I think being a " construction worker" is still looked down on. I think parents do this out of ignorance because their parents pushed them to get an education so they would have a better life.

 

[def90]

Depends on the degree, the skilled trade, your work ethic and ambition, and where you live..

I knows guys that got Aerospace degrees that make close to $200k after ten years or so and others that are still around the $60k range. I work construction and know guys that have gone from working on a framing crew, to running their own framing crew, to becoming a full on GC and real estate developer making a half million a year.

I have a friend that got a masters in history, ended up working an admin job at a local college and was laid off with the covid lockdowns and is still jobless today.

No one working as an employee in a skilled trade is going to get rich, well unless you are an off shore oil rig diver, the idea is that you work that job and eventually go out on your own and become a business owner and then rake in the money if you know what you are doing.

Everything is what you make of it.

 

[Billy Goat]

We can agree to disagree.


I believe a lot of the college degree stuff has become overrated, especially when it's something everyone does, and colleges are just pumping them out for money.


It seems many degrees aren't a value added product.

 

[NYyotekiller]

I’m going to be pushing both of my young sons to try to get them into the trades rather than going to college. Too many parents are forcing their kids to go to college just because they think that they have to in order for them to be successful in life. So not the case anymore.

Just by figuring the cost of local SUNY (state) university’s you are so much farther ahead to work the trades and make a decent buck for 4 years rather than compiling around $100k in student loans. Sure there are professions that are much more lucrative than the trades, but the amount of years and money it takes you to get to that level you could have quite a start on retirement. YMMV.

 

[Sakohunter264]

I have my degree in Finance, but if I had to do it all over again I would go through a Construction Mgmt program. I’ve managed to stay clear of finance, but Project Managment has been a great career.

 

[Sherman]

I am a journeyman lineman. My 1st step apprentices start out at $70k a year base salary (closer to $90k after overtime). Over the course of 4 years they get raises every six months as they step up in their apprenticeship. My base salary as a journeyman is $113k and add another $30k-$40k after overtime. I pay $134 a month for my family of 5 medical/dental/eye insurance, 7% 401k match, and a defined retirement. I have no student debt. The plant operators at my company make about the same. No student debt. Plumbers in my area are close to this. Electricians in my area are close to this.

 

[HuntHarder]

Hard to say one is better than the other imo. I went the skilled trade route, got PAID roughly 500k over 4.5 years to learn my trade. Instead of being in debt, I make a decent living and got paid to do it.

Degrees have their place tho. If I choose to ever go in the office, I will have to complete the last 2 years to get my bachelors. Seems most companies place value on degrees when you want to get into the corporate structure. I am not sure if I will ever go that route, but I am sure I will complete my bachelors via online schooling to keep my options open 10-20 years down the road.

 

[Deadfall]

If you are going to college for a degree that will impact society...absolutely do it.
Everyone else...trades make a difference in society. That's where wealth is. Not in how much money you can make.

I build stuff. Make other people's lives better. In return own my home, couple rigs, don't work 3 or 4 months a year.

There is alot of personal satisfaction and money in the trades.

Problem these days everyone wants to be Warren buffet.

 

[id_jon]

Self employed skilled trade here, only debt is my truck and my house. I take probably 8 weeks off a year or more. Usually around 80k/year

 

[Jbrow327]

Self employed skilled trade here, only debt is my truck and my house. I take probably 8 weeks off a year or more. Usually around 80k/year

What trade?