Dear Future President,

In the past thirty years, attending college has become more of a requirement than a choice. In the next few months, many young adults are going to be making the life changing decision of what career they want to pursue, but the problem is about “40% of university students and 70% of community college students will not end up getting a degree,” said the principal of Southeastern Regional Vocational-Technical High School in Easton, Massachusetts. This can easily be prevented if we put workforce training programs in high schools around the nation. This would help kids find a career that they are passionate about, rather than something they will give up on. The same principle also said, “when we do follow up studies,generally speaking, we hit the ninety, high ninety percent range of students who are in the work force.” By adding vocational programs to high schools, we are setting our students up for success; they will know what career path they would like to pursue and they will have the skills to do it as soon as they graduate. This will help youth all over the nation to have a job to keep them off the streets.

Programs like this will also save college age students thousands of dollars. College leaves the average student with about $29,400 in debt, but unfortunately, a lot of kids drop out, wasting time and money. According to Andy Warner, a journalist for KQED news, said, “ the average debt for students graduating in 2012 was $29,400.” If students had the opportunity to participate in a workforce training program instead, they could have saved themselves a lot of money that they now have to pay to the government.

However, there is always two sides to a story. Carol Burris, award winning principal in New York, thinks that, “it's easier to put children with learning disabilities or behavior issues in training programs rather than pushing them academically.” That's not necessarily a bad thing. While they are still getting an education, they are learning how to do things that they wouldn't typically have learned.

While college is a really good thing thing for some students, we have to also look at what will be better for other students. Through vocational programs we can help America’s youth be hardworking, productive adults.

Sincerely,

Ali F.

Work Cited

@Annelise_KQED. "Should More High Schools Offer Workforce Training?" KQED Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016. <http://ww2.kqed.org/learning/2016/01/28/should-more-high-schools-offer-workforce-training/>.

Warner, By Andy. "Is College Worth the Cost? An Illustrated Explainer." The Lowdown. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016. <https://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2014/01/14/is-college-really-worth-it/>.