Don’t cry for college students

You’ve read the recent headlines.  “Half of all Washington college students face food or housing insecurity, a survey finds.”

I  had to read that story again.  “College kids don’t always get to eat a balanced meal” was the way the story should have read.  A third of the students faced housing insecurity at least once last year.  It really meant, “Some were kicked out of the apartment because they didn’t pay their share of the rent.”

If you were able to read towards the end of the story it said that 66 percent of black students had experienced “housing, food, child care, health care or technology insecurity” last year.

Pardon me if I don’t feel a great deal of sympathy for Washington’s college students black or white or  any shade of purple.  Going to college is hard.   Going to school is expensive.  Going to college is not for everyone (although the government thinks it is).

What happened to the poor college student, who ate a day-old doughnut for breakfast, a bag of Cheetos for lunch and Top Ramen for dinner?   That used to be a balanced diet.   What ever happened to couch surfing, stuffing six students in an apartment?  What ever happened to working the graveyard shift to make a few extra dollars to supplement a scholarship?

I have a solution to all of those problems.

Join the military.  You heard me right.  Join the military?

All branches of the US Military are looking for intelligent and  hard working recruits.  Enlist for three or four years and upon an honorable discharge, you can get four-years of college – free – on the taxpayers.  By the way, 29 percent of all military members are female and all jobs are open to them.

(In college these days, females make up 60-65 percent of all applicants and in some professions – medicine and law, they make up as much as 70-75 percent of all applicants.)

And, while we’re on the subject of jobs, lets talk about jobs that don’t require a college degree.  These exist by the millions.  Many pay far more than a college degree required job does.  Granted, some of them require additional education or training, but industry is crying for good workers.

So, before you fill out that college application, take a look at alternatives.  Unless you’re going to go to work for government, most jobs don’t require a college degree.