College Education vs. Training for a Trade: Which Is the Better Option?

One way to broaden your opportunities and improve your prospects is to get some training and education. Having the right credentials or skills can open doors and put you on a better career path. 

That’s great, of course. But there’s one major decision you have to make. Will you attend college or learn a trade?

If you’re aiming for a specific line of work, that decision might already be made for you. If you want to become an accountant, for instance, college is the way to get there. If you want to be a plumber, then you’re off to the trades.

But if you’re like a lot of people, you can see yourself pursuing different career paths. You want a good job and a secure future, and you’re willing to sign up for whatever program will get you there.

If you’re not sure whether a college education or training for a trade is better for you, here are a few things to keep in mind when making that important decision.

Starting Ahead vs. Working It Off

Some people are fortunate enough to have their college education paid in full. 

They might have parents who saved up a generous education fund for them. Maybe they hit the jackpot and earned some lucrative scholarships. Older students returning to school sometimes have enough savings to get them through a couple of years. 

Unfortunately, most students don’t have that luxury. Instead, they have student loans.

Student loans are great because they let you pursue opportunities you might not otherwise be able to afford. But with student loans comes student loan debt, which can be really high, is notoriously difficult to get rid of, and can take decades to pay off. 

That’s a price you may be willing to pay, but it’s a calculated risk. If your college degree helps you land a high-paying job in your field, those monthly student loan payments might not be so bad. If, on the other hand, you have to leave the program before earning your degree or can’t find a job that pays well after graduation, those student loan payments can be a heavy burden.

That’s one advantage to training for a job in the trade. Joining an apprenticeship program doesn’t require you to take out a loan. It doesn’t put a strain on your bank account, either. In fact, an apprenticeship lets you start earning right away.

As an apprentice, you get to do hands-on training. That means you’re working as you learn. Not only that, but you actually get compensated for that work.

While college can be a good choice for some people, this makes joining the trades a much safer bet. You get to put money in your bank account from day one instead of borrowing money and hoping you’ll be able to pay it back, which gives you a more secure start to your career. 

Average Yearly Earnings

So, let’s take a quick look at the earning potential for college grads and tradespeople to see how they stack up.

According to a recent survey by the National Associated of Colleges and Employers, U.S. college graduates were projected to earn an average annual salary of $55,260 in 2022. 

Of course, that depends on the field of study. Computer Science and Engineering majors were expected to earn salaries above $70,000, while Communications majors floated closer to the average.

For the trades, we can look at data from both the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and our own crowdsourced data from hundreds of union locals. The precise field of work makes a difference here, too. So, let’s look at the average annual salaries for three types of trades:

As you can see, the average earnings are roughly the same, or higher for workers who are part of a trade union. Some trades pay as well as the more lucrative college degrees, while some non-unionized trade jobs come closer to the more modest ones. 

Moreover, these are only the averages. As the BLS data shows, 10% of electricians and carpenters earn a median salary that’s close to six figures. Not bad at all considering those jobs don’t require a college degree or student loan debt.

If you want more specific data on wages in your area, visit our Wages By City chart, which covers wages for 15 different trades across North America.

Unionization and Benefits

While salary range is a very important consideration, it’s not the only thing you should be looking at. Many trade jobs come with benefits that won’t show up directly on your paycheck.

In many industries, it’s up to the employer to provide benefits to their workers. Some will put together a package that might include health insurance or a 401k option to entice skilled candidates to apply. Others will simply offer a base pay and not much more. 

When you work in a trade, however, you can also choose to join a trade union. Unionized workers don’t have to hope that an employer will offer them benefits – union jobs guarantee them.

It depends on your local union and what they’ve managed to negotiate on your behalf, but your total package is likely to include retirement, medical, and vacation benefits. That means you not only will earn a good salary (unionized workers earn more on average than non-unionized workers), but you’ll get several financial safety nets without having to pay into them out of pocket. 

In other words, if you earn $65k a year as a college graduate but your employer doesn’t offer benefits, a good chunk of that salary might have to be spent on health insurance premiums and funding a retirement plan. 

If you earn $65k as a unionized tradesperson, on the other hand, you get to keep all of your earnings while your employer pays those benefits on your behalf. 

Job Security

It could happen to almost any industry, but some careers are safer than others. 

Those high-earning college paths we talked about earlier might not be going anywhere. I don’t think we’ll stop needing computer scientists or engineers anytime soon. 

That might not be the case for other paths, however. Accounting, for instance, might become automated. Jobs for Communications grads might be filled by artificial intelligence programs.

As for jobs in the trades, those will be safe for a long time.

For one thing, they’re essential. Every part of the world has buildings that must be built, renovated, and maintained. That means steady work for people who deal with the electrical wiring, the plumbing, the structural elements, and countless other specialized aspects of the construction process.

Jobs in the trades are also very difficult to automate or outsource. The work is very hands-on and involves a good deal of judgment that comes from training and experience, which can’t easily be programmed into an algorithm. It also has to be done on-site, meaning the labor can’t be outsourced overseas.

Every career path is a gamble. You have to hope that the job you’re preparing for will still be around in twenty or thirty years. There are no guarantees, but the trades are a safer bet. When you become a tradesperson, your work is essential and always needed. In fact, it’s in such high demand that the construction industry regularly runs into labor shortages. If you’re hoping for steady employment, becoming an apprentice is the first step to getting it.

What About Trade School?

So far, we’ve weighed only two options: going to college or applying for an apprenticeship.

But now I want to address the elephant in the room: trade schools.

Trade schools are basically a mix of the two options. Like college, it’s an educational program that you can complete to earn a specialized credential. Unlike colleges, however, they specialize in preparing students for trade careers like the ones we’ve been discussing.

If you want to work in a construction trade, attending a trade school to learn the craft is certainly an option. I just don’t think it’s a good one.

Why? Because a trade school might get you into the trade of your choice, but it also saddles you with some of the bigger disadvantages that come with earning a college degree.

Like I said above, an apprenticeship will pay you while you learn. A trade school, on the other hand, will cost you – often thousands of dollars. Same end result, but only one will leave you with full pockets. 

While trade school certifications might help you land a job, an apprenticeship will actually put you to work right away. Instead of a certificate, you have actual work experience, which employers tend to take more seriously. 

Many people think trade schools are the only way into the trades, but that’s simply not the case. Apprenticeship programs are another way in, and a much better one at that. 

The Path to Your Future

There are some very concrete advantages to apprenticing in a trade. It pays well, the union-backed benefits are generous, and you can start working and earning right away.

Does that mean it’s a better choice than going to college?

No, not necessarily. There are plenty of jobs that can only be filled by college graduates. If you want to go into nursing, finance, sales, or any number of other skilled lines of work, a college degree is exactly what you’ll need.

That will likely involve taking out a student loan and hoping you can find a position with benefits once you graduate. But that doesn’t have to keep you from pursuing those jobs. All in all, it can be worth it.

So, college or the trades? At the end of the day, the choice is yours. But now that you’ve considered all the facts, you’ll at least be able to make an informed decision.

Interested in joining a trade but not sure how to go about it? Check out our brief guide on How to Join a Trade to learn more!