Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Oprah Winfrey once said education is the key to unlocking
the world, a passport to freedom. Jud Apatow said college
is the reward for surviving high school. In twenty twenty one,
the total undergraduate enrollment at a degree granting post secondary
institution in the US was fifteen point four million students.
(00:23):
That's according to the data from the National Center of
Education Statistics.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
That's a lot of people rewarded for surviving high school.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
While enrollment is expected to increase by nine percent in
the next eight to ten years, the number of new
college students in the fall of twenty twenty one was
about three percent lower than twenty twenty enrollment and fifteen
percent lower than the enrollment numbers for fall of twenty ten.
Perhaps that's because a traditional four year college doesn't have
to be the path for everyone. In fact, while enrollment
(00:51):
in college declined, some trade schools have reported seeing an
increase in enrollment during that time. Based on data from
the US Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics
of the three hundred and ninety one thy twenty to
twenty nine year olds who graduated between January and October
of twenty twenty two, with an associate's degree, seventy two
point six percent found employment isn't employment the biggest reward
(01:13):
of them all? The ability to have financial freedom to
miss Winfrey's point, education in any form greatly improves our
chances of gaining employment opportunities and our chance to learn
and explore the world around us. In our last episode,
we talked about the many ways to save and pay
for college, like opening a five to two nine savings account,
(01:34):
But how do we know of going to a four
year college after high school? Is the best path for
us or the students in our lives In a culture
of gap years and rapidly advancing technology, the options are
limitless for anyone graduating high school. But are some directions
better than others? And if it's an associate's degree instead
of a bachelor's degree, will something like a five to
two nine still cover that? We'll find out together, So
(01:56):
start taking notes because this is stuff, Hey everyone, this
is grown up stuff. How to Adult the show where
we make sense of the many parts of adulthood, one
topic at a time. As always, I am Mollie and
I am joined by my co host and college graduate Matt.
(02:17):
I want to welcome you all back for a special
Part two on continuing education in partnership with the Michigan
Education Savings Program and Edvest in Wisconsin. Matt, last episode,
we talked about how to save and pay for college,
but this week we are going to take a look
at all of the ways you can continue your education
beyond high school. So, Matt, I want you to close
(02:39):
your eyes and I want you to imagine the future
you are now. Papa Matt and your ten babas are
Beabase nombour and some of them are torn about what
their future holds post high school.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And I know.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
You have a lot of thoughts about college looking back
at your own career and your time at school. Will
you advise them to seek out a bachelor's as you
have done.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
You had to make it ten. You couldn't have just said.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
You know what, because I think you'll be a great father.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Okay, So my eyes are closed. There's definitely not to
have ten servative number. There's maybe one, but I think
it'll ultimately depend on what kind of person they are,
you know, like if they're super driven and they have
a clear idea of what they want to do that
requires school, I'm thinking, like, you know, a doctor or
a lawyer, you know, go to school or you know,
take a gap year, I trust you. If they're someone
(03:30):
who needs guidance and maybe structure will benefit them, you know,
community college until they have a better idea of what
they want to do. If they're super passionate about a
field where a degree isn't entirely necessary, like the arts,
and they have a good head on their shoulders, I'd say,
maybe just go do that for a while until you
can find your footing professionally or or learn as you
(03:52):
work your way into an industry. I'd maybe tell them
that you can have a really stable and long career
by going to trade school and learning something in incredibly useful.
So I'm really conflicted, and I do think it would
entirely depend on the person.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, You're right to be conflicted and feel complicated, because
I think it's such a tough thing to predict, right,
Like you want to be supportive and you want to
but you also want to help put somebody on the
right track, like on the best path forward for them.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
For me, I went to undergrad for one thing and
then completely changed careers. And in that case, grad school
really helped me change careers and I don't regret growing
to grad school at all. We have a colleague who
did trade school for audio engineering, and y'all she is
Emmy nominated.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Emmy nominated Sierra Spreen.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
So you know she's doing great.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
We're going to talk about all of these options today
with some familiar voices.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
That's right. We are excited to welcome Robin Lott and
Jackie James back to grown up stuff. Last episode, they
taught us about our options when it comes to financing
higher ed and introduced us to the five twenty nine
Savings Plan, a savings account designed to grow your savings
for higher education.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Today day, we're going to ask Robin and Jackie how
important higher education is, how we determine which option is
right for us, and if a five two nine will
cover some of these alternatives to a bachelor's degree program.
Jackie and Robin, thank you both for joining us again
for this special part two episode where we're continuing to
(05:20):
talk about education, higher education post high school and what
our options are. I know, Matt, you have a very
important question that you want to start us off with.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yeah, and Robin and you and I were talking about
this a little bit before we all hopped on. But
basically Molly and I both went to four year universities.
I think I'm very thankful for the fact that I
went to a four year university, but I now work
in audio, which is entirely not what I studied in school.
And so basically what I'm trying to get here is,
you know, what is the point of college? What is
(05:52):
it giving us that we can't necessarily get from on
the job training.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I'll just start out by saying, it really depends on
the career path that you've chosen and what is your dream.
I mean, if you want to be a dentist, you're
going to need that formal training at a university. If
you want to be an engineer, or a doctor or
a teacher, there's many careers out there that you're going
to need that piece of paper for otherwise you will
(06:19):
not be able to be hired.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Yeah, So a four year college in some cases is
kind of an experience. They work to develop people, and
it kind of has a couple of objectives. First of all,
of course, a college specifically is for a broad based education,
but also the classes that you have to take foster
(06:42):
critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills that are also
very important in a professional setting. Something really important, really
no one ever talks about is networking opportunities, and for
year colleges, they are just unparalleled. Studies have shown that
can distantly over their lifetime. College graduates tend to earn
(07:05):
more than those with a high school diploma, so this
earnings gap can be substantial, with some estimates suggesting that
college graduates can earn up to one point two million
dollars more over their careers.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Robert, I want to post this question to you because
you have this amazing experience working with higher education in Michigan.
Do you see any changes around the value of a
college degree? Does it mean as much today as it
once did? Or is the market because there's so many
people graduating from college, is the market almost saturated with
(07:41):
bachelor's degrees.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
I'd like to think not simply because as time goes on,
people are falling out of the market. Okay, so I'm
close to retirement age. I'm going to free up a
space for someone else to fill that gap. As industries evolve,
there's you're going to always be a need, I think
for college graduates, and that opportunity, if you will, for
(08:06):
people to succeed and advance in whatever field they're interested in.
I don't really see it falling off. And again, every
time there's a survey taken, I swear to you, families
say pretty much the same thing. And I've been in
this field for quite a while now. I remember surveys
back in nineteen ninety something and they said families value
(08:27):
higher education. There's earning potential. Back then, it was a
one million dollar difference between a high school graduate and
someone who had a college degree. And there was still
a lot of opportunities for people with a college degree
to earn a good living. And I still see that today,
you know, thirty years later, where it really hasn't changed
(08:48):
that much.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
Also something to note, according to the US Bureau of
Labor Statistics, during COVID nineteen, workers with a high school
diploma took a big hit on their job ups.
Speaker 6 (09:00):
The unemployment rate.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
With people that have just a high school diploma was
seventeen point six percent.
Speaker 6 (09:07):
However, for college graduates it was eight point four percent. Wow,
something to note there.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
You go, clearly there's still a lot of value in
completing a bachelor's program today. However, in a US News
and World report article it identified that roughly one in
four freshmen don't return for their sophomore year of college.
If college is the route we should take, how do
(09:34):
we know we're ready for it? Is there a master
checklist somewhere we can use to make sure we're prepared
or to analyze our likelihood of dropping out.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
I kind of came up with my own mental checklist.
First of all, academic preparedness college. Of course, at the
end of the day we talked about it. It's about
the education and academics. So have you consistently performed well
in your course work in high school or previous education,
and have you met the academic requirements for the college
(10:05):
or program. If not, maybe we reevaluate and take a
gap year or decide to go to community college.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
Was absolutely fine.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
Second of all, clarify your career goals and consider the
specific degree or program you want. However, just make sure
when you're thinking about these to give yourself some flexibility that, Okay,
I might decide to pivot and change my major after
freshman year.
Speaker 7 (10:32):
And remember that it's okay to change.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Oh, that's the whole premise of growing up and becoming adults,
is that we do change. So you know, Matt and
I were talking a little bit earlier about the fact
that you can always have a backup plan as well.
But really the main thing on that list that Jackie
laid out is trying to identify that career you want.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Right,
(10:56):
That's the biggest question. And to the extent that you
can identify that early on, it could save you some
time and money, because you're right, you could end up
going down one path and deciding you don't like that
and then changing your major. But now you've spent all
this money on some classes that may not apply to
the new major you've decided, So taking a gap year
might be okay. It really is a personal decision. But
(11:19):
understanding that it's going to take discipline if you take
that gap year, take discipline to get back on the horse.
Speaker 6 (11:24):
That's something to consider too.
Speaker 7 (11:25):
Molly.
Speaker 5 (11:26):
There's two things I want to say. First of all,
we need to consider our financial considerations when it comes
to absolutely getting education, and of course you can use
a five to two nine plan to start saving for
college too. But last thing that I think that we
haven't really talked about is evaluate your personal readiness. You
(11:46):
need to reflect on your personal maturity level, emotional resilience,
ability to handle potential stress and challenges that come with
college life. And if that's not the case, maybe you
decide to stay home and commute into college, or decide
to do community college and ease into that transition instead
of just going from high school to a four year
(12:08):
staying there college and that's okay too.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Or alternatively, go ahead into a trade while you're trying
to make that decision. What a perfect backup or primary
career and we are in constant need of folks to
do that as well.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Yeah, absolutely, and you might start that trade earlier or
sooner to your point, Jackie, start that five twenty nine account,
and then you're able to put more money in. And
if you change your mind and want to go get
a bachelor's degree later in life, there's that option, and
you've already started saving in your five twenty nine. Absolutely,
(12:47):
While your academic record is a good indication of your
readiness for college, there's also your maturity and emotional preparedness
to consider. For many, college is the first time you're
living on your own and responsible for your own decisions,
like making sure you actually go to class and that
you study for the midterms, all while balancing living with
a roommate and experiencing campus life. But fretno, because there
(13:08):
are a lot of great options if you're not ready
for for your bachelor's program. For starters, you could take
a gap year work and travel while you save money
before that first tuition payment. There's also trade schools and
community colleges. Plus there are also different types of universities
that may better.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Suit your learning needs.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
What are all of our different options for education after
high school? And if we are looking at pursuing a
bachelor's program, can you explain the difference between attending a
private university versus a public state school.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
So you have your trade schools obviously technical schools. You
have your community colleges they basically provide an associate's degree,
and then you have your public universities.
Speaker 7 (13:54):
You have your private universities.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
And the difference between your public and private is that
the public universities usually receive some type of state appropriation
to help with their operational cost versus a private institution
that's solely private. I mean they are funding their institutions
based on donations from alumni, from funds, that's being raised
from the student's tuition, So you're going to see the
(14:20):
tuition at a public school be about half the cost
of a tuition that's at a private school that's in state.
Speaker 5 (14:27):
And I just wanted to talk about kind of the
levels of college degrees. You have certificate programs which are
kind of short term and they focus on specific skills
in a particular field. You have associates degrees, which are
typically two years and offer kind of a foundational knowledge
in a particular field, and you can get that through
(14:47):
a community college, and some four year colleges offer associates degrees.
Of course, everybody talks about a bachelor's degree, which is
typically four years and offers comprehensive education and a chosen major.
You have a master's degree, which I'm very familiar with unfortunately,
which focuses on a specialized study and research within a
(15:12):
specific discipline, and that's often one to two years, depending
And then, of course your doctoral degrees, which is the
highest level of academic degrees, and that involves an in
depth research and original contributions to a field of study.
And that just I can't even tell you how long
that is.
Speaker 6 (15:31):
That varies.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I want to go back to the private versus public
college situation really quickly, and we talked a little bit
about what drives the cost public is because it's state
funded private, it's getting everything from private donors and tuition.
What is the attraction to going to a private over
a public university?
Speaker 6 (15:51):
They tend to have smaller student populations.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
I was going to say that it's a more intimate environment.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Yep, and more personalized attention than public schools.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeap.
Speaker 7 (16:02):
They'll have a smaller class size.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Instead of one hundred students in a class, they might
only have thirty or thirty five students in a class,
and so they can get more attention that way as well.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Mine. I were going back and forth on this, but
like when you hear, at least for me, like when
you hear someone like, oh I went to Yale, Oh
I went to Harvard.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
It's prestigious.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
I'm like, I'm impressed, you know, so, like is the
name really worth the price of admission?
Speaker 7 (16:24):
Though?
Speaker 5 (16:25):
I will make this very clear, there are the prestigious
schools Yale, Harvard, IVY League, IVY League, and then there's
everything else. Both are awesome. Any education in general, first
of all wonderful, but In my experience, no one cares
where you get an education from.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
So those Ivy.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
League schools do hold prestige and they might get you
more networking and more jobs. However, University of South Carolina
comparatively to Charleston College, unless I'm making new networking opportunities
or the person that's hiring me went to the University
of South Carolina. In my experience, I haven't had any
(17:07):
advantages over the name of the school.
Speaker 6 (17:10):
So it matters about your networking.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
It matters about your your skills, your communication, your hard work, ethic.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
And your professors too, and there's a way to do both. Also,
Like I know a lot of people who will like
go to like a community college for two years, and
they're generally they have partnership programs with like a like
a larger school.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
And that for your degree is just as valuable even
though they went two years to community college. Two years
to four year college, that's just as valuable.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Absolutely, So we've really weighed the pros and cons of
four year colleges. So you know, let's say that we've
made the decision for ourselves that a traditional for your
university experience is not necessarily what is going to be
the best for us. What are the other options? I
know we've talked about trade school, vocational school. Could you
(17:59):
guys get into those a little bit more and tell
us really what the other options out there are for people?
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Absolutely so, your trade in technical schools could take you
down the path of many, many different things. It's amazing
how many different careers could be considered just vocational training.
And going back to what Matt was talking about, you
could just get an internship and learn the skill right, yeah,
and go right to work.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
And actually, for my own edification, we've thrown this word
around a bunch and actually I don't think I know
what it means when we talk about vocational schools. What
exactly is that?
Speaker 1 (18:33):
And is that different than like a training school or
a technical school or are they all the same.
Speaker 6 (18:37):
Yeah, it's basically the same thing. But like trade technical
vocational schools, they all.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Focus on teaching a specific skill for particular industries like
automotive repair, welding, medical assistance. They typically, comparatively to like
a college education, offer shorter programs that could be completed
in like a little as a couple of months to
a couple of years, making them quicker and more affordable
(19:06):
way to jumpstart your career after high school.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
We've been talking about trade, technical, vocational. Let's go to associates,
you know, community college. What is the real difference between
an associate's degree and a bachelor's degree.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Associate's degree is just your two year program. There's many
degrees you can get that just require just the two
year work. Right, Earnings wise, you're going to make a
little less than if you have a bachelor's degree.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Yeah, and it's offered by community colleges, technical colleges, and
some universities like we just talked about earlier. It could
also be more cost effective for those who want to
enter the job market sooner with a specialized level of knowledge.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Exactly are you seeing people go the associate's degree first
to get some of those gen ed credits even out
of the way, and then kind of graduating to a
bachelor's degree.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Is that becoming more common at all?
Speaker 4 (20:00):
Almost becoming more common now is dual enrollment. We are
now having high schools offer opportunities for students to take
college credit at the local community college while they're in
high school. And guess what, it's free of charge, so
that when they get to the college. The college accepts
that credit toward their graduation, and I think that we're
(20:22):
seeing a whole lot more of that now that states
are offering it.
Speaker 7 (20:24):
I know here in Michigan they're offering it quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
I would imagine if you can get a lot of
those college credits out of the way, you might even
be able to shorten the length of time.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
And that's at the end of the day, as many
classes as you can take. And I just was school
and my grandson about this the other day, because he's
going to junior high this year, and I said to him,
when you get to that high school door, the first
thing you do is look up ap classes and dual enrollment,
because that is going to allow you to reduce the
amount that that degree is going to ultimately cost.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
You.
Speaker 7 (20:53):
Think about it.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
If you can take ten credits in high school and
it requires sixty credits or a degree, now I only
have to pay for fifty credits, So it could greatly
reduce the cost of your college career if you can
take some credits in your high school that apply to college.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
We'll be right back with more grown up stuff how
to adult.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
After a quick break.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
And we're back with more grown up stuff how to adults.
I'll say it again, there are a lot of different
options for recent high school graduates to continue their education,
but there are also options for people after they graduate
from college. While we all know that doctors and lawyers
understandably go on to medical school and law school, how
(21:44):
can graduate school benefit those of us with an English degree?
For me personally, grad school was an essential part of
changing career paths. For other occupations like educators, postgrad credits
and degrees are important and often required to keeping credentials
up to date and moving up and salary.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
There are several advantages that graduate school have over just
bachelor's degrees, which, mind you, just bachelor's degree or any
education is wonderful, And I keep telling you that because
I want to make it clear that any education is wonderful.
But graduate degrees provide a couple of advantages specialization, of course,
(22:23):
career advancement.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
That's pretty much the main.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
Goal of a lot of people when it comes to
getting a master's degree or going to grad school, because
in certain fields a master's degree is required, or it
enhances your opportunity for career advancement and higher level positions.
It also, just like a high school degree to a
bachelor's degree, there's also increased earning potential comparatively to just
(22:50):
having a bachelor's degree. On average, individuals with a master's
degree tend to earn higher salaries than just those with
a bachelor's. It also provides competitive edge and also something
that a lot of people don't talk about. You can
also get your master's in a different field.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, that's actually I mean, that is exactly what I did.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
I was a teacher and I went to grad school
for journalism to get into the media space. For me,
when I decided I wanted to leave teaching, an important
path for me to really transition was to go to
grad school and make that.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Switch become doctor Molly.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I become doctor Molly. According to Matt, I do not
have a PhD. Obviously, Matt and I are just kidding
here and we both know that I have a master's
and not a PhD. But for our listeners, can you
lay out the key differences between those two degree programs.
Speaker 6 (23:43):
The level of education and the field you work in.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
So a master's degree typically takes one to two years,
a PhD takes much longer than that. Depending on the program,
So it just kind of depends. Like a PhD is
typically necessary to attain expertise in a specialized area or
to conduct advanced research like in academia medicine of course,
(24:09):
science and engineering, psychology, law, and social sciences like anthropology
and political science.
Speaker 6 (24:17):
But like we were talking.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
Before, it's just a level higher than master's degree.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
So if my job offers like continuing education, stipends or
credits to its employees, is a master's degree program like
the best way to take advantage of that?
Speaker 5 (24:34):
Well, in my experience, that's what I did. So I
work for a company that offered tuition reimbursement, so I
didn't pay very much out of pocket to get my
master's degree. So, first of all, if you have that
opportunity with your job, I absolutely would take that opportunity
and run with it, because it's not something that most
(24:58):
people offer, you know, like, that's a very excellent opportunity
for you to advance your higher education. But I would recommend,
and this is just from my experience, make sure you
consider relevance and if it aligns with your career goals.
The time commitment I didn't realize going back to school
(25:19):
on top of a full time job, your life, children, house,
that's very difficult to balance work and studies and personal life,
So just be aware of that if you are considering
taking that opportunity and long term benefits of course, Like
for me, I really thought about my career advancement, my
salary growth, and job satisfaction when I was considering going
(25:43):
back to school for my master's degree.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
That's great, and you mentioned certificate programs. I'm seeing more
and more universities offering things called continuing education programs that
seem to be designed for working professionals. What exactly are
these how do they differ from a master degree or
a PhD program?
Speaker 5 (26:02):
Continuing education programs are educational offerings that are provided by
universities to help people acquire new skills, update their existing knowledge, and.
Speaker 6 (26:12):
Stay current in their fields.
Speaker 5 (26:14):
They're designed for adult learning and have topics like professional development,
language IT training, real estate education, HR training, and environmental sustainability.
So all of these things are just certificate programs that
are really short term comparatively to a master's degree or
(26:36):
PhD program, which are more long term at least one
to two years for master's degree and the PhD.
Speaker 6 (26:42):
Program, depending on the program. I can't give you.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
An exact year, Jackie, seeing as you know your background
is with ed Vest and their five twenty nine plans.
How much of what we've talked about today can we
cover with a five twenty nine savings account plan.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
That's an awesome question because with a five twenty nine
you can use it for technical school, you can use
it for apprenticeships, you can use it for four year college,
you can use it for two year college, be continuing
the education programs, and postgrad degrees programs. It just depends
on if it's an accredited school. If you just search
(27:18):
for the apprenticeship under the Federal School Code list on
the US Department of Education's website, you can see if
a five to nine covers it. If it says it's accredited,
five two nines can cover it.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
And what about room and board for like all these
vocational schools too, is that covered correct?
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Yes, anything that's an accredited school, that's tuition, room.
Speaker 6 (27:39):
And board, books, fees.
Speaker 5 (27:42):
Those are all qualified higher education expenses that you can
use with your five to nine. There are some exceptions,
but if you have any questions, you can always just
reach out to your state plan or look at the
program description. Literally just search atvest dot com program description
and you can see everything that is covered under ADVEST five.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Two nine and might those exceptions kind of like vary
from state to state, so it's probably important to check,
you know, with whatever state your five twenty nine plan
is with, Yes, just.
Speaker 6 (28:11):
Check your home state five twenty nine plan.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
This is huge because you know, as we were talking about,
like you know, if you at all are thinking about
going to school, thinking about your your higher education, being
able to take advantage of these plans with tax advantages
can be huge. You know, Molly, you and I talked
about this last episode. Like, you know, if you see
your paycheck, like if you get one thousand dollars a week,
you know, all the taxes come out, you have like
you know, five hundred six hundred dollars left. Imagine that
(28:34):
you can just take that full thousand dollars, put it
into a five twenty nine and use that to fund
what you already want to do. Otherwise you're gonna be
paying for it after tax. All right, that's not fun, correct.
I'd never really put that together when I was younger,
that like, because I guess I never really had I
didn't have a job when I was younger, but I
was like, how do you people pay for all these things?
But like, if you could really just put that pre
tax money and let it grow and take it out,
(28:55):
you know, with qualifying expensive tax free, I mean that's amazing.
Speaker 5 (28:58):
Yes, I didn't understand when I was younger what a
tax advantage account really meant. I'm like, great, I save
what five percent or something, But then as an adult
to having taxes taken out and then paying taxes and
then realizing that that money can be reinvested into your
(29:18):
account and you can have those tax savings on top
of your contribution and have the potential to grow for
a very long time and use compound earnings to grow
that account over time.
Speaker 6 (29:32):
That's huge.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Getting any level of education is going to help you
in your career, but good academic performance and favorable grades
are only part of the higher ed recipe. You'll also
want to take part in opportunities outside of the classroom
to network with people in your area of study. Joining
professional clubs and finding volunteer opportunities could be a great
way to make your experience more well rounded. Because once
(29:56):
you get your degree, your certificate, it's all about me
making that experience stand out. Robin, I'm also curious. I
would love your thoughts on how you advise college students
to make the most of that experience to make their
resume and their experience stand out when they're in the workforce.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
Take a resume writing class, for crying out loud, because
what you know, I'm from old school where you put
everything in your resume.
Speaker 7 (30:25):
Now not so much.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
You definitely want to learn how you can present yourself
on paper in the best light possible. So I would
start there with a resume writing class to make sure
that you're capturing the best side of your experience on
that piece of paper, and so that it's not too long,
not too short, but can really show your skills as
(30:50):
best you can.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
I think you've just highlighted another episode we need to
cover is resume writing. Yeah, but I'm curious should people
start to really think about it's not just about my grade.
I need to get involved in certain activities or clubs
to really make that resume stand out.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
Absolutely, it goes back to our discussion on networking. It
is about your grades if you want to stay in college, right,
But it doesn't you don't have to have that four
point zero to graduate obviously, right, So you always want
to strive for your best academically, but you'd also want
to make sure that you are meeting people connecting those dots,
learning how to communicate, learning how to be independent successful.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Is there anything else that you feel like you want
to kind of share in terms of all the different
options and the different paths that people can take around education.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
Yes, I said this last time and I'll say it again.
There is no one right way to do your education
or your career. Your education is going to take you
where it needs to go. And never feel the societal
pressures that for your colleges are the right option, because
that's not the case whatsoever. Do what's for you and
evaluate what's best for your situation.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
And I think that's really important to hear because in
all likelihood, this younger generation, including millennials and those entering
the workforce now, will most likely experience multiple career changes
throughout their life. Yeah, you know, like whether it's adapting
to how quickly technology is changing or maximizing their salaries,
are looking for new career challenges. But I think it's
(32:24):
important to understand as early as possible that a career
path is never a straight line, and that you know
most likely you will encounter difficult moments in your career,
but that pushing through them and moving forward is the
only way you're going to grow personally and professionally, and
that you'll be better off for it in the long run.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
Jackie and Robin, thank you so much for joining us
once again. I feel like we have learned so much
about what our options are if we decide to continue
education after high school or even after college after our bachelors.
So thank you once again for being here with us.
Speaker 7 (32:57):
Thank you guys so much. This was fantastic.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
I have had such a great time.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
I want to thank Robin and Jackie for joining us
again on this episode. I think one of the most
important takeaways, and we've said it a ton here today,
is that there are a lot of options to explore
after you graduate from high school, but more often than not,
pursuing an education in any form is going to give
you a leg up when it comes to building your career,
whether it's going to a trade school, pursuing an associate's
degree or a bachelor's, or going even further with a
(33:31):
master's or a PhD program. Those certificates and degrees are
going to help you learn more and grow your potential
to earn more. Here's what else I've learned from this
conversation with Robin and Jackie. The five to two nine
savings plan will cover traditional four year colleges, trade schools,
community colleges, and even graduate school programs as long as
the institution you're enrolling in is accredited by the US
(33:52):
Department of Education. A huge advantage of college can be
the opportunity to network and grow as a person, But
you want to make sure you're all ready for the time, commitment,
academic rigor, and the emotional toll college could take on you.
Dual study programs and advanced placement courses in high school
are a great way to get a lot of your
general education courses for college out of the way and
even save you some money. Private schools are more expensive
(34:15):
than the public state universities because they're funded completely by
donors and students tuition and fees. State schools get a
good amount of funding from their states, which offsets the
operational costs and allows them to charge students less for tuition. However,
private schools can offer a more intimate and personal learning
environment with much smaller class sizes than the state schools. Finally,
(34:36):
don't be afraid to change your mind, whether you complete
an associate's degree and decide to go on to pursue
a bachelor's or you have a bachelor's and you decide
you want to change careers and go to grad school.
I mean, that's what the undecided major is for in college.
That is all for today's episode. What is our next
stop on Grown Up Stuff How to Adults?
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Next up, we're learning about buying a car with Jamie
Page Eaton, who is the editor in chief of Car Talks.
We'll ask her about buying new versus hughes, and a
difference between car loans, leasing and buying outright, and some
of the latest safety features on cars you should make
sure you get.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
I'm really hoping that one of those safety features is
a rear view backup camera.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
Well, for your sake and ours, I hope it is,
but we'll find out in two weeks. On the next
episode of Grown Up Stuff, How Do Adult?
Speaker 1 (35:21):
And remember you might not be graded in life, but
it never hurts to do your homework. This is a
production from Ruby Studios from iHeartMedia.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
Our Executive producers are Malli Sosha.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
And Matt Stillo. This episode was engineered by Matt Stillo.
Speaker 3 (35:34):
And written by Malli Soosha.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
This episode was fact checked by Casby Bias and co
edited by Sierra
Speaker 3 (35:41):
Spreen and special thanks to our teammates at Ruby Studios
from iHeartMedia, including Ethan Fixel, Rachel Swan, Krasnov, Amber Smith,
Aikia Swinton, Sierra Kaiser, and Andy Kelly