College Alternatives Offer Flexibility

By Alex Rosenfield

College is too expensive. College doesn't guarantee a good-paying job. College doesn't focus on the proper learning methods. The list of complaints drags on. College is clearly a faulty product, but we pay for it because it's available, expected and, by and large, it educates us. But what if a better product existed? The college system will never be easily disrupted, but what if you could learn the skills necessary to change your life and get paid for it? Would you think twice about college or grad school?

There are several such programs, but one in particular is worth considering, simply because of how different it is from the college model. Enstitute places high-aptitude students in businesses throughout the country in order to better prepare young people for the real world. The program aims to be a form of a gap year or altogether alternative to higher education, and each apprentice's workday is supplemented by a personalized curriculum provided by Enstitute staff. Oh, and you get paid $28,000 to $30,000 for your year of work.

Nonpaying alternatives to college exist, too, such as trade schools, online courses or finding a job without the aid of a program like Enstitute, but Enstitute is unique because of both the obvious fact that you make a livable salary and because you get to do work that matters in a field you're passionate about from day one.

Enstitute is a small, niche program, but what if their reach expanded? Every business sector has entry-level roles that could easily be performed by any person with a good head and a healthy supply of passion. People could get paid to learn knowledge and skills that would boost their resumes more than good grades and extracurriculars. Companies could receive a plethora of young talent that could develop into higher-level roles. Enstitute would act as they do now, but on a larger scale, performing the role of the middleman who finds the talent and pairs it up with the proper companies.

If a program like Enstitute existed to aid young writers to break into the working world, I would apply in a heartbeat. College has taught me how to write, but Enstitute provides the real-world experience, an expansive network of contacts and marketable skills that employers crave. Enstitute caters to business students, but why not hook up writers with low-level jobs at reputable companies that want to groom the next generation of editorial voices.

Likewise, students of the arts, humanities and social sciences could be placed at businesses that speak to their passions. Companies would have an influx of bright, young talent, and students would have a new way to learn without piling up debt.

College is fun, but unless you're on a pre-professional career path, such as pre-med or pre-law, the benefits of higher education are more difficult to attain. Most undergraduates need to log serious internship hours outside of class or dedicate themselves to nonpaying student organizations in order to learn the skills and meet the people who will help them find jobs after graduation. Schools such as Northeastern have co-op or similar programs to ensure students complete internships prior to graduation, but college is four years of your life, and five if you add a year to intern full-time. You may never have another four-year period to be an inebriated goofball, but the fault in our stars is that our world runs according to money, and growing up means learning how to minimize costs in order to maximize your potential.

Ninety percent of Enstitute apprentices graduate with a full-time job making $50-55K a year. About interviews with potential employers, Enstitute graduate Cody Beck writes, "I never mention my diploma or GPA. My standard response is something like 'How about I talk about how I helped run a kickstarter campaign that made $50,000 ... assisted in obtaining grants totaling over hundreds of thousands of dollars or opened a UK product fulfillment center that ships out thousands of products every year – Or do you want to know how good I am at multiple choice tests?'"

Of course, education is relative. College is right for some people, Enstitute for others, and something else entirely for everyone else. I just wonder how many young people could be better served by a program like Enstitute. Time will tell if Enstitute catches on, as the program started in 2012, but so far the results are encouraging, and you have to wonder if paying a small fortune for a college education is headed the way of the dinosaurs.

This is all said with the awareness that in a perfect world our life decisions would not succumb to the ebb and flow of money. This also assumes that you want to work for someone when you graduate. Idealistically, we all make like Enstitute by embracing the entrepreneurial spirit and create our own jobs, but the world doesn't work such that we can all make money doing what we love from day one. Most of us have to keep searching for better, faster paths to get us where we want to be, or else toil awhile and spend a small fortune to learn fewer applicable skills in four years than we could learn in one year while getting paid.​

Alex Rosenfeld is a College senior from Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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