According to the BLS, sixty-two percent of the jobs in the US pay $20 per hour or less. Those aren’t the jobs you want. 

White Collar Jobs 

Parents and students figured out the solution to this dilemma years ago. If you go to college and graduate, you can get a well-paying, professional job. 

However, it turns out, there is a “catch” to that strategy.

As Peter Thiel, PayPal founder, has said, 

“College in America has been sold and oversold as the key to a better future, but something has gone very wrong in the last few decades.” 

What has gone “very wrong” is very simple. Our society has become infected with “College Mania.” College has become accepted as the societal norm—a rite of passage, without regard to gainful outcomes or cost. 

It doesn’t matter whether or not Little Joanie: 

• Is all that bright. 
• Has to enter into indentured servitude because of student loans. 

By golly, she’s going to college. 

Today students and their parents have been brainwashed to believe: 

• If a high school graduate wants to go to college, that’s a good enough reason to send them, because “college is for everyone.”
• Getting accepted at college is a very big deal. 
• All college graduates make a ton of money. 

The reality is: 

• Almost any high school graduate can be accepted at some college or university. Ninety plus percent of the thousands of four-year institutions just aren’t that selective. 
• Too many high school graduates opt for college. Most (two out of three) students, who matriculate, are not going to graduate college and become fully employed. 

In today’s economy, you are going to need some kind of post-secondary education to escape the “minimum wage trap,” and, comfortably, raise a family. 

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, ”When the pendulum swings too far in one direction, it will go back,” 

Well, the “college pendulum” has swung too far, and that has created a real opportunity. 

Blue Collar Jobs 

The trades are not in decline. They are alive and well. Baby Boomers are retiring in droves and leaving their high paying jobs unfilled. Seventy percent of all master plumbers will be retired by 2022, and they can’t find anybody to hire. 

Recently I had a major plumbing problem in my kitchen. (I’m describing the problem as “major” because the final bill was $1480.) 

I called my plumber—who makes $100,000 annually. He said it wasn’t something he was interested in doing and gave me the phone numbers of a couple other plumbers who might be willing to help. 

It took me a week and a dozen phone calls to get the job done properly. It turned out to be four manhours of work. The parts couldn’t have cost $20. 

Another “blue collar” opportunity would be a job in Public Safety. 

In many communities you don’t need a college degree for a job in Public Safety. 

For example, in Ohio the basic requirement for becoming a police officer is Peace Officer Basic Training Academy. (You must be 21 by the time you graduate.) This training can be found at community colleges and CTE centers across the state. It doesn’t cost a lot of money. 

The “catch” to these jobs is: 

• They are not for everyone. 
• They are very selective. 
• You have to find a job in the “right” community. 

By “right” community I mean well managed, where they respect their public safety employees. If you get this right, in a few years you can be making $35 per hour plus overtime, with a pension, health care, and, possibly, a tuition benefit for your family. 

You will probably be limited from advancing beyond sergeant without that bachelor’s degree. (Where I live, that sergeant makes $45 per hour plus overtime.) 

New Collar Jobs 

The labor market is exploding with jobs that don’t require bachelor’s degrees but do demand special skills, typically related to digital technology. 

Called “New Collar” jobs, these positions usually provide salaries in the top half of the U.S. wage scale. Given that companies of all kinds are increasingly reliant on online tools and data, these jobs offer promising career prospects. 

That’s good news for American workers of all ages who don’t have college diplomas, including young people just entering the workforce. 

A new-collar worker is an individual who develops the technical and soft skills needed to work in technology jobs through a variety of nontraditional education paths. 

Often the credential needed for a well-paying new collar job is an associates degree, and the path to that job right through the door of your local community college. 

You may be able to earn this degree for next to nothing. Free community college is becoming a “thing.” Google, “[your state] free community college.” 

Read Ryan Craig’s, A New U, for more “New Collar” ideas. 

Notes 

Thomas B Walsh’s answer to Is an associates degree enough to get you a good paying job? 

Don’t get me wrong. Some college grads do make a ton of money. For example, I recent saw a study by Raj Chetty, who is currently at Harvard. He found that 20% of Ivy League grads vaulted into the top 1% ($630,000+) within fifteen years of graduation. However, there is a also a GAO study that shows 21% of recent college graduates are only making $12-$16 an hour. The salaries of college graduates are a lot more skewed than people imagine. 

We can debate the issue of the “Earnings Premium” of a college degree, but, if you need student loans, it’s very clear what has happened to the “Wealth Premium.” The College Wealth Premium Has Collapsed