Should I Go to College? A Framework for Deciding on Purpose

If you're standing at this decision — for yourself or with your teenager — you've probably noticed the advice splits into two useless camps: "college is non-negotiable" and "college is a scam, drop out." Neither helps, because the real answer isn't a slogan. It's a question you ask honestly about your specific path. Here's a framework for making the decision on purpose instead of on autopilot — which, in the age we're in, matters more than it used to.

A quick honesty note first: I'm a mother and a practitioner, not a financial or career advisor, and this isn't that kind of advice. It's a way of thinking the decision through. The choice is yours.

Start by refusing the default

The most common way people go to college is the worst one: because it's simply the next thing, the unquestioned conveyor everyone steps onto after high school. That autopilot is the actual problem — not college itself. Plenty of people belong in college. Almost no one belongs there by default, having never asked what they're trying to become or whether this is the way to become it.

So before the pros-and-cons, ask the real question: what am I actually trying to do with this stretch of my one life, and is a degree the genuine path to it — or just the assumed one? If you can't answer that, you're not ready to decide yet, and that's useful information.

When college is genuinely the right call

I'm not anti-college. There are clear cases where it's the right door, often worth real cost:

• Licensed and regulated professions — medicine, law, nursing, engineering, academia. If your path legally or practically requires the degree, that settles a lot.

• Fields where the training is genuinely hard to get elsewhere — certain sciences, specialized technical work.

• When the specific school's network and environment are the actual value — and you've honestly assessed that, not just absorbed the prestige story.

• When you know yourself to thrive with structure and immersion at this stage of life, and the alternative would be drift.

If your goal sits here, go — and go deliberately, with eyes open about the cost.

When it's worth pausing

Other cases deserve a real pause before borrowing years and money:

• You don't know what you want yet. Going to college to "figure it out" is an expensive way to do something a gap year, work, or real-world experience often does better and cheaper.

• Your field rewards demonstrated skill over credentials — much of tech, the trades, creative and entrepreneurial work — where a portfolio of real things you've built can speak louder than a transcript.

• The cost would mean significant debt for a degree whose payoff is uncertain. Debt narrows your future choices; that's a real cost, not just a number.

• You're drawn to building your own path — entrepreneurship, a craft, self-directed work. The capacities that path needs are often learned faster by doing than by enrolling.

Why the calculation is shifting

Here's what's genuinely different now, and why I'd weigh the decision more carefully than a generation ago. AI is collapsing the value of memorized, credentialed knowledge — the very thing a degree was a reliable proxy for. As that happens, the work increasingly rewards judgment, initiative, adaptability, and the ability to create and self-direct: capacities a transcript never measured and AI can't replicate. The follow-the-instructions track that school and college were built to feed is the one most exposed to automation.

This is the thesis I keep coming back to: unschooling is to entrepreneurship what schooling is to having a job. School, at its core, trains people to wait to be told what to do. That was a fine fit for an industrial economy. It's a riskier bet now. So "should I go to college" is increasingly inseparable from "am I preparing to be an employee in a world that needs fewer of them, or to build something — and which does this specific path actually serve?"

None of that means don't go. It means don't go on autopilot. Decide for your real path, count the true cost, and choose on purpose. That's the whole framework.

Frequently asked questions

Should I go to college?

There's no universal answer — it depends on your specific goals. College is often the right choice for licensed professions (medicine, law, engineering), fields where the training is hard to get elsewhere, or when you thrive with structure. It's worth pausing if you don't yet know what you want, your field rewards demonstrated skill over credentials, or the cost means heavy debt for an uncertain payoff. Decide deliberately, not by default.

Is college worth it anymore?

For some paths, clearly yes; for others, increasingly less so. As AI devalues credentialed knowledge and more fields reward demonstrated skills and self-direction, the average return is more variable than it used to be. The value depends heavily on your field, the specific school, the cost, and what you're actually trying to become.

What are good alternatives to college?

Apprenticeships and trades, self-directed and project-based learning, entrepreneurship, certifications, online learning paired with real work, and building a portfolio of things you've actually made. These tend to suit fields that reward demonstrated capability over a credential, and they often cost far less.

Should I go to college if I don't know what I want to do?

Often it's worth pausing first. Going to college mainly to "figure it out" is an expensive way to do something a gap year, work, travel, or real-world experience can frequently do better and cheaper. Clarifying what you're trying to become first usually leads to a better decision either way.

Is it a mistake to skip college?

Not inherently — it depends entirely on your path. For licensed professions, skipping it can close doors. For skill- and portfolio-driven or entrepreneurial paths, it can be the smarter, cheaper route. The mistake isn't going or not going; it's deciding on autopilot instead of for your actual goals. (This isn't financial or career advice — just a framework.)

This decision sits inside a much bigger question — what is an education for, in the age of AI? That's the conversation I'm in, once every moon → sacredschooling.com. (Related: Is College a Scam? · Why Is College So Expensive?)

— Bronwyn Ayla, L.Ac.