More options are good for students

Four years of college can be an extraordinarily fulfilling and valuable experience for many high school graduates. But it’s not for everyone.

For a variety of reasons, a large percentage of students do not pursue a four-year college degree after graduating from high school. Some can’t afford college; some don’t have the educational chops to get into a four-year institution; and some just don’t want to go back to school.

But studies have confirmed that finding a good job with no credentials other than a high school degree is far more difficult than it used to be. Even those who choose not to pursue a four-year college education almost certainly will need some form of additional training after high school.

That often includes a stint at a technical college. It also might entail job-specific training by companies.

But, as York County students are learning, preparing for employment can begin in high school itself. As reported in a front-page story by Amanda Harris Sunday, many local students are working in apprenticeships while attending high school.

One avenue is Apprenticeship Carolina, a division of the S.C. Technical College System. Employers use the agency to sponsor apprenticeships that provide on-the-job training and steer students toward future full-time employment.

Local high schools also are offering more diverse career counseling, helping students plan their careers as they progress through high school. Counselors call it a bridge linking what they are learning in school to possible career choices.

We think helping students who are motivated to enter the job market soon after high school to find appropriate training is a valuable service. Again, nearly all students will need some kind of specialized, post-high-school training, and the more options students have, the better.

These programs also help ensure that companies that want to move to South Carolina or expand operations here have a large, well-trained pool of workers from which to choose.

Of course, not all students are certain about what they want to do with their futures either while they are in high school or right after graduating. A four-year college education can give students the freedom to explore different possibilities, sample different educational pursuits and find out what direction they want to take after college.

And while finding a good job is one of the primary reasons to pursue a college education or other training program, it is not necessarily the only reason. A college education also presents an opportunity for intellectual, spiritual and personal growth that might not pertain to a chosen career but can improve the overall quality of one’s life.

Perhaps the main point is that learning doesn’t stop when you step off the stage after receiving a high school diploma. With luck, it will be a life-long process.

The new emphasis on giving high school graduates more ways to continue learning is a welcome development.

This story was originally published March 28, 2017 at 7:21 PM with the headline "More options are good for students."