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  • Can you afford to go to college?
    Updated On: May 30, 2018

    Chances are you have heard the argument about why everyone should go to college. 

    A good education leads to a good job and yada, yada, yada, in 40 years you should be able to retire. 

    The problem though, is no one talks about the large elephant in the room – can you actually afford to go to college? USA Today reports as of Dec. 31, 2016, outstanding student loan balances totaled a hefty $1.31 trillion. The same article sited a Student Loan Hero study saying the average cost of just a single college credit is $594.46. 

    No matter how you look at it, that is a lot of money! 

    MarketWatch reports student loan debt is increasing at a rate of $2,667.2 per second and the Federal Reserve says 10 percent of the national debt pool is made up of student loans, which only trails mortgages (67 percent) for the highest debt rate. 

    The Fed also says graduates (and college dropouts) are falling behind in paying back their debt as 11.2 percent of all student loan debt was 90 or more days delinquent or in default in the fourth quarter of 2016, surpassing even credit card loans (around 7% delinquent) and auto loans (around 4%). 

    Are you like millions of other high school and college students? Forget about picking a major. The real issue is: Can you afford to go to college? 

    Judging by the USA Today article, the answer for plenty of students is no – and that is ok. 

    The construction industry is actively seeking high school graduates, college students and college graduates to join their ranks. 

    Registered apprenticeships offer men and women the ability to completely avoid college debt and actually make good money and receive benefits while learning how to do your job. 

    If you do have college debt, a free registered apprentices program allows you to earn while you learn, which means you can make the money needed to pay off your existing student loan debt. 

    Unless you are afraid of hard work, then how can you not afford to consider a career in the Union Electrical Construction Industry?