We’re told that the only path to a successful life runs through a four-year degree, even if it means racking up six figures of debt for a job that might not exist in five years. But things are changing.
This week on the Future of Education podcast, I sit down with Hannah Maruyama, founder of Degree Free, who has helped more than 18,000 families choose a smarter path from the one-size-fits-all approach to life after high school.
We talk about the lies we’ve all absorbed about college, and, more importantly, how to help your teenager reverse-engineer a successful career based on the life they actually want to live (without the unnecessary debt).
Does your kid actually need college? (6 things to consider)
The four-year degree is the nation’s greatest marketing triumph. Higher education in America is an $848 billion industry. So of course you’re going to get pamphlets in the mail. Of course there’s going to be social pressure and a manufactured sense of urgency. Meanwhile, Hannah explains that fewer than one in five job listings in this country actually require a four-year degree, and more than half ask for none at all. At one point in time, a degree held much more weight than it does today. But our world is evolving. There are many paths to success, and college is simply one of them. It’s not the absolute requirement many of us were told it is.
“Career blindness” is an epidemic. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to your kid’s future. But it’s the default state. About half of teenagers (globally, not nationally) expect to end up in one of the same ten jobs, the familiar handful you could rattle off in your sleep. Doctor, lawyer, teacher, therapist… Kids have no idea the diverse range of work that is out there and available to them. It’s our responsibility to show them.
Personality is a terrible way to choose work. Not many kids know what type of job will fit them based on their high school personality (lack of prefrontal cortex development and all that). They may end up hating something they thought they would love, or loving something they thought they would hate. This is exactly what happened to me. I used to hate school so much that I would ask my teachers, “Wait, you actually choose to work here?” Then I went and started my own school. (Granted, Alpha is not your typical school.) Time teaches us all sorts of things about ourselves, so we need to give kids a strategy that’s more dependable than just personality or interests.
Passion does not pay rent. “What’s your passion? What are you interested in? Well, go chase that and figure the rest out later!” But if your kid can’t afford to feed themselves, it doesn’t matter what their interests are. In the real world, jobs are needs-first, interests-second. Say your kid is passionate about social work, but their long-term goal is to stay home with their kids, or own a 100-acre ranch in Montana. If they choose the job they’re “passionate” about, they’re now unable to do either of those things. Their long-term goals are stunted by a high school interest that may or may not stick around. Oftentimes, “Just go to college and figure it out later!” hurts kids more than it helps them.
Take your teenager back to zero. Teenagers will say things like, “I just want to make money, but I don’t know what I’m going to do with it!” Hannah’s advice: “Take them back to zero. ‘Okay, what do you want from your life? What do you want your life to look like?’ There’s actually pretty decent clarity at this age when you frame it correctly. This is what we do in our launch program. With teenagers, it’s difficult to ask, ‘How do you want to feel in 10 years? What do you want your career to be like?’ But you can ask, ‘What do you want in a home? Who do you picture being around you?’ That’s where you get answers about pets, location, homes, family, or travel they want to do. Then you map that back to: ‘What careers are going to fit that? And what do you need to learn?’ And show them there’s a progression they need to follow.”
Focus on these four things. From Hannah: “There are four criteria we focus on: schedule, income, location, and work environment. Schedule is when you work. Location is where you live and build your life. Work environment is the type of environment you go into to do work. And income is how much you earn.” Help your teenager build their career from these four criteria.
For many kids, college will be the right path. But for many, it won’t.
My hope and challenge for you as a parent is not just to accept six-figure college debt as an unavoidable, but to have conversations with your kid and learn what will best fit their specific needs and desired long-term lifestyle. Personalization is always better than standardization, and the college decision is no different.
New episodes of the Future of Education podcast publish every week. Find Hannah Maruyama's launch program and her book, The Degree Free Way, right here.
And you can tune into our full conversation below.
I want to forward this article to dozens of parents, but I honestly don't know a single one who can see past the blindness created by this industry to think independently and logically about it.
There are so many employment options in which the employer will pay for education that promotes the employee in the field of study that benefits that company! Parents don't look for that at all.
The #1 criteria for college selection is that it is a 'Party School."