Harvard Says 27% Earn More Than 4 Year College Graduates...

Christine Axsmith

This idea goes against conventional wisdom and lots of google search results.  

But if you look through the top Google results for "earning more than a college graduate," the web sites are tied to colleges, or companies selling advertising to colleges.

There's no shortage of people who are success stories without a college degree.  But the most recent research is showing that a college degree is not necessary for success.

A report of the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University states that 27 percent of people with post-secondary licenses or certificates—credentials short of an associate’s degree—earn more than the average bachelor’s degree recipient.  

Pathways to prosperity: Meeting the challenge of preparing young Americans for the 21st century is a report from Harvard University talking about the failure of the "college-for-all" policy, and how that cheats some young people.  "We fail these young people not because we are indifferent, but because we have focused too exclusively on a few narrow pathways to success," referring to college.

Other experts agree with that conclusion:

“Employment rates for the nation’s teens and young adults are at post-World War II lows—a true labor market depression. Based on experiences both here and abroad, Pathways to Prosperity points to the need for expanded employment and work-based learning opportunities for young people, closer ties between post-secondary education/training and the workplace, and expanded youth apprenticeships. The need has never been greater, and the report provides a clarion call for action now.”

Andrew Sum, Director, Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University.

Conventional wisdom, and google search results, are sure to follow these conclusions.  Young people are not one big clump that are exactly the same as the other.  As they are different, their needs are different.  Not everyone needs to be an accountant.  Our economy requires all types of skills.  Many of the in-demand skills can be learned while working or through a certificate program.

Paths to success without college means entering the plumber, firefighter, carpenter or other trades.  And, yes, math will be needed.  But it will be a direct, problem-solving math with direct, visible results.

$uccess Without College Publications has published $uccess Without College - Roadmap to Software Developer and $uccess Without College - Roadmap to Plumber to show people that there are alternatives to college to get success.

Buying one of our $uccess Without College Roadmap books will empower you to choose your own path to success.

The chances of success without college are better if you think for yourself and decide what is best for you.  Students who have success without collegedo the work to find out about different career paths and match them to their temperament.  

Other books about success without college focus on calming anxious parents, and not on solutions.  Buy $uccess Without College Roadmap to Plumber or Roadmap to Software Developer by Christine Axsmith for solid advice on launching your successful career path.

linkedin:  Christine Axsmith

podcast:  $uccess Without College

Instagram:  SuccessWithoutCollege

Twitter:  SuccessWithoutCollege

In Defense of Megan Markle

In Defense of Megan Markle

As an ARWFA (Amateur Royal Watcher From Afar), I read with reminiscence the recent criticisms of the Duchess of Sussex, AKA Meghan Markle. It saddens me that this happening all over again.The press has once again resorted to creating drama to sell newspapers, or more accurately, advertising. I’m not suggesting that theses reporters are engaged in pure fabrication. I’m suggesting that they are applying all the analysis of Judith Miller of the New York Times in the lead-up to the second Iraq War. That is to say, none.

Megan Markle

One Legacy of Diana, Princess of Wales

One of Princess Diana’s enduring legacies was a glimpse into the challenges of a Royal 

with “the little grey men” who run the palace. It is not inconceivable that the Duchess of Sussex has upset courtiers, who may have been
hoping to manage her. Unrealistic as it is to
think that a strong, mature, successful
woman could be guided in the same way as
an overwhelmed teenager, it seems that was the expectation.

Piers Morgan’s Bad Character

Piers Morgan wrote a little piece in The Daily Mail calling the Duchess a “ruthless social climber.” His basis for that opinion is her discontinuation of all communications with him after her engagement to Prince Harry. He clearly was hoping for some sort of inside track of information from the Royal Household. She, of course, displayed appropriate boundaries by her actions. Piers Morgan claims she only uses people, when it is he who had that intent. When he didn’t succeed, he stood on his media platform and jeered like a boy in a schoolyard.

There’s good reason to be wary of Piers Morgan, which most Americans do not know.

Piers Morgan was largely unscathed by the Milly Dowler controversy. He was editor of a major
newspaper that hacked into the voicemail of a missing girl, listened to the messages, then deleted messages to make space for more eavesdropping on future messages. The Dowler family had
false hope of their daughter’s survival because they thought she was alive and deleting her own
messages. What cruelty. And illegality, since it also interfered with a police investigation.

Megan Markle’s Wise Choice

So this is the character of the person the Duchess of Sussex distanced herself from upon her
engagement to Prince Harry: the Editor of the same media outlet that eavesdropped on phone
calls of the Royal household to distribute private information to the public. Now he laments,
publicly, their loss of connection, which only demonstrates her good sense.

Random and public insults on the character of the Duchess of Sussex because she doesn’t
return your calls is not responsible. By using public airwaves and right-of-ways for your
speculations, you have agreed to, and failed, your duty to the public, who provide the
infrastructure and public property rights that your business uses.

So the news of the discontent in the Royal Family, and associated bitter commentary, has no other dimension than “Hey, if we say this, we will sell advertising!” Certainly, that is Piers Morgan’s
level.

So long as there is a dividing line between social media and “the media” there should be a
responsibility one as well.

And is it really “news” when a disgruntled father, or whatever his problem is, has yet another public musing about his daughter refusing to talk to him?

Courtiers are always going to complain. Media figures are always getting “hot tips” from the
attention-seeking or revenge-seeking. We simply ask that this time, some discernment is
employed before another princess is killed while being chased by you.