Debt vs Credentials
The four-year default costs money many families don't have — and produces options that a single practical credential could deliver for free.
"A credential doesn't close college doors. It means you can walk through them by choice rather than desperation."
The Default Is Expensive
The standard guidance most El Paso County students receive is some version of: finish high school, go to college, get a degree, get a job. It's not bad advice in isolation. It's bad advice when it's the only advice — handed to every student regardless of their interests, skills, or financial situation.
The average student loan burden for a graduate nationally is around $30,000. For students who start but don't finish — a significant percentage — that number becomes debt without a credential. And in a local economy where the average weekly wage is already $220 below the national average, that debt lands hard.
The Four-Year Default — Real Costs
What a Credential Actually Does
A practical credential — a welding certification, a CNA license, a digital fabrication badge, a screen printing portfolio with documented output — isn't a consolation prize. It's leverage. It means a student can earn immediately while deciding what comes next. It means the decision to go to college is a choice, not a survival strategy.
That's the difference between desperation enrollment and informed enrollment. One produces debt. The other produces options.
Trades Entry Wages — Colorado
These wages start on day one of employment — with no debt, and with skills that compound. An electrician who works five years has a portfolio of real projects. A student who spent those same five years in a degree program that didn't translate has debt and a credential the market may or may not value.
This Is Not Anti-College
A student who graduates with a welding certification and then decides to pursue an engineering degree is better positioned than one who went straight to college with no practical skills and no financial buffer. The credential doesn't close doors — it opens them without requiring a loan to stand in front of them.
The goal isn't to redirect everyone away from higher education. It's to make sure no student graduates with zero production capacity and zero income options. One marketable skill changes the math entirely.