Ostensibly the best investment of your life.
Think of your life as an Internet advertising business; you have to adapt to each new change. If you keep using the same methods for too long, eventually it'll be rendered obsolete by people who discovered the method later on.
This is college. College is tantamount to advertising by spam email. Sure, people still do it, but it's not nearly as effective as it used to be. In other words, college is basically an old method that worked extremely well for people in the past, but now that everyone thinks that it's a fantastic idea to go, they've rendered it obsolete with the exorbitant amount of competition.
Did what? What did you do!? Helping your child graduate from a PhD program is doing something, not sending them to a college with a minimum GPA requirement of 2.00.
If you really want to succeed, you have to stay ahead of the crowd. So how exactly would you do this? Well, first you have to consider a couple of things.
College is not for everyone
This is so difficult for most people to understand. They think that if you tell them that they shouldn't (not can't) go to college, that you're insulting their intelligence. "I'll prove you wrong", they say, and before you know it, poof! They're off burning $40,000 to "prove you wrong".
So why is college not for everyone? Because if you're just attending college to get a random degree without having a backup plan or researching job outlooks, salary, lifestyle, and at least the demand in your area (or the area you're planning on moving to), then you've already failed. I don't typically like quotes, but take some time to not just read the following quote, but actually think about it.
Put simply, if you don't design your own life plan (a unique plan, not what everyone else is doing), then you'll more than likely just end up working at a menial job while some other person who actually took the time to plan is laughing at you because they make your salary in seconds.
These obstinate people who go to college anyway often continue to ignore even the most conspicuous warning signs that they're failing, and they are often the reason that...
College is overcrowded
This especially applies to community colleges. You see, at the ripe old age of 16 years old, I had to go to a community college to take a placement exam. Now, do you know what makes you stand out more than being the only 16 year old in the room? Being the only other person in the room who wasn't a middle-aged parent of six or an octogenarian who extemporaneously decided that it's "time to make a change". So now you're stuck between a rock and a hard place because you can't get any classes since Generation X filled them up months before you even took the exam. If you understand these two circumstances, then you're already light-years ahead of the majority of prospective students (that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point).
I'm sure some of you one-track minded individuals are reading this and thinking "Well, if you don't go to college, what else are you supposed to do"? This is probably the most asinine question anyone could ask. It just shows that you either have not put any thought into any other possibilities, or you don't have the time to do the research.
Alternatives to college
CLA+: You probably haven't heard of the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+) before because you were too busy dicking around at fraternity parties. To sum it up, the CLA+ is an assessment that "can show potential employers that you have the abilities, skills, and overall smarts to excel on the job that they’re trying to fill". It costs $89 and takes 90 minutes to complete. If $89 and 90 minutes is too much of a leap of faith for you, then maybe you should go back to frivolously spending your money.
Start an online business or a traditional business: Starting a sole proprietorship is a pretty easy process. Just go to the IRS website and register for an EIN (business) number. You will receive your EIN number immediately after the registration. Now, running a business is a different story.
Become a paparazzi: Are you competent with a camera? Do you know where celebrities like to "hang-out"? If so, then maybe you should consider snapping pictures of them and selling them to magazines and websites.
Freelance: Use websites like Fiverr to promote a product or service you can offer. You can also freelance by offering to ghost write using various Internet forums and a PayPal account. Some people even make a living posing their children next to advertisements. Be creative.
Get a job or work your way up: "Oh, there aren't any more jobs. Whinge"! Shut up, there are jobs, they just aren't jobs that you want to do. While working your way up is also consider an old fashioned method, it's still a viable option if you work at a small to medium sized company and not a big corporation like Target or Wal-Mart.
Monetise YouTube videos: These days, all you have to do to have a popular YouTube video is to post something so terrible that it's funny. Just think, if you get paid $1 per 1000 views, and your video gets one million views, you've just made an extra $1000. The more subscribers you have, the better your income will be.
Go to a Trade School: If you plan on working in a construction or in the automotive industry, then a trade school may be a more viable option than going to college.
Get Certified: If you were to become a computer technician, you could always get A+ certified, which is a certification that says you'[re competent enough to diagnose and repair computers.
And finally, the last alternative to college in this list. Are you ready?
Do something you're passionate about: If you clicked on the link, then you may have noticed that it just leads you to a blank page. The reason for this is because you need to fill in that page. Do something you actually enjoy doing instead of what everyone else is doing. Whether you enjoy playing an instrument for a living or just enjoy raising a family, just do something that you will enjoy. You don't need a flammable piece of toilet paper to tell you that you're successful.
