Going to college used to be a passport to future success, but that’s no longer the case. For some students, it’s still a good choice that leads to a successful career after graduation, but for many their degrees are worthless pieces of paper. Choose the wrong program and graduation is more likely to lead to disillusionment and debt than to a steady paycheck.

Yet parents, guidance counsellors, and politicians still push higher education as if it’s the only option for building a secure future. In this book, Ken S. Coates and Bill Morrison set out to explore the many educational opportunities and career paths open to high-school students and those in their twenties. This book is designed to help Americans in their teens and twenties decide whether to pursue a degree, enrol for skills training, or investigate one of the many other options that are available.