Deciding what to do after high school is a major step in life, and for a lot of students, college seems like the obvious choice for their future.

  Many students do not fully consider the opportunities that technical college, apprenticeships, or on-the-job training bring to the table.

    Most of these career paths have their own unique advantages like earning income while learning, allowing students opportunities to network with local businesses and they typically provide a more hands on learning experience. 

   Tech school is also significantly more affordable than college. According to the Wisconsin Technical College System tuition workgroup, the annual cost for Wisconsin Technical College is about $4,000 while Wisconsin universities typically cost around $11,000 per year.

   A lot of students end up taking out student loans and going into debt without really knowing what they want to do can cause a lot of problems later in life.

   Students also often decide to go to college without considering their other options that might be better for their career path, or that might help them get a head start in their career.

   This is not to say that college is not important. Some students set high goals for themselves that would not be achievable without a college education.

    College is certainly an important step for many career paths but for a lot of people a tech school or other form of postsecondary education might be a better choice especially when cost, time and other factors come into play.