Many people think that once you graduate high school, to make good money, you have to go to a 4 to 8 year college. However, this is not always the case. While having a bachelor’s degree can make you more money, it’s not cheap to get a bachelor’s degree. According to the Idaho Department of Labor, on average, the cost to get a bachelor’s degree is $127,000. Many students have to get student loans which are very expensive, and doing simple things like buying food and doing laundry adds to the cost. Additionally, many students may simply not be right for college. The Institute of Education Statistics shows that around 60% of students actually complete college, which means around 40% are dropouts. If college is too expensive, or if someone simply doesn’t want to go to college, what can they do? They can go to a trade school.

A trade school is a school that teaches skills centered around a specific job. Some jobs that a trade school can lead to are, electricians, mechanics, machinists, and more. The Simple Dollar says, “the average trade school degree costs $33,000, which, compared to a $127,000 bachelor’s degree, means a savings of $94,000.” Additionally, many high schools have Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. CTE’s are used to provide students with skills that are needed in labor workforces. If a student finds something they are interested in through those classes, they may not have to go to college at all. These classes will teach students “real world” skills that are necessary for labor jobs. According to Fairy God Boss, some high paying labor jobs are Nuclear Power Reactor Operators, Electrical and Electronic Repairs, Power Plant Operators, Transportation Inspectors, and more. While your high school probably isn’t going to teach you how to run a nuclear power plant, you may learn skills in a CTE class that could be used in one of those fields. Farmington High School provides many different CTE classes such as BKTV, Woodworking, and many Agriculture classes.