For today's high school seniors is the financail risk of college an investment or a waste?  Certainly, the experts disagree.  There are those die-hard higher education promoters who say "of course, it's worth the cost.  You reap far more than you sow in the case of a college education."  But parents, economists, and financial advisors are starting to disagree.  To read more about this issue as described in the Washington Post, click here.  Again, I think this is a problem that calls for individualized solutions.

There are some kids who graduate from high school with a clear vision of what and who they want to be.  They enroll in their school of choice and begin pursuing their futures.  As long as their desired outcome requires a college diploma, college is a good investment.  These students are goal oriented and probably can weigh the cost of school against their future employment to see the benefit. 

There are some kids who graduate from high school who spend the next four to eight years wasting their parents' money.  They have no clear aspirations and would be better off finding a job that they are good at and sticking with it.  But for some that experimental time is necessary to narrow the focus.  College offers so many new avenues that curious students cannot seem to resist.  They delve into to this and dabble in that before concluding that their passion really lies with the other.  These students need to be given time to discover what will satisfy them intellectually and financially.

I think parents are wrong to declare that their students must attend or must not attend college.  Each student is different and will require different approaches to this stage of life.