I link to a couple of blogs (Nykola and All in a Day’s Work) written by intelligent articulate young ladies who have chosen not to attend or not to finish college. They both indicate that they get lots of questions about this decision. In this post, Ambra Nykol prints an excerpt from an email that she received from a guy named Craig. Craig gives some excellent ideas about NOT attending college and why a person might choose to delay or skip college attendance altogether. Last year I gave a “Preparing for Graduation and College” seminar to a small group of homeschool moms and high school students. Here’s the list I gave them: 10 Bad Reasons to Got to College and 10 Good Reasons to Go to College.

Ten Bad Reasons to Go to College
1. I’m going to college to have FUN!!
2. I’m going to college to figure out what to do with my life.
3. I’m going to college to find a husband or wife.
4. I’m going to college to get out of my house.
5. I’m going to college to find myself.
6. My parents saved all this money for my college education, so I guess I”ll have to spend it.
7. I just graduated from high school, and college is the next step.
8. I don’t have anything else to do for the next four years.
9. All the really rich people go to college first before they get really rich.
10. I don’t wanna grow up–I’m a Toys R Us kid.

Ten Good Reasons to Go to College
1. I’ve saved up or earned or been given enough money to pay the tuition myself.
2. I want to learn something that I can learn best at a college.
3. I want to earn a credential that I can only earn at a college or university.
4. I want to learn a marketable skill in order to support a family someday.
5. I know what God wants me to do , and I need a college education to get there.
6. I don’t have responsibilities for a spouse or children, and I can afford to spend the next four years learning something that is important to me.
7. My parents and I are in agreement that college would be a good educational setting for me.
8. I want to get a broad liberal arts education now while I have the time and the opportunity.
9. I have the Biblical foundation and the right relationship with Christ to be able to filter all the teaching I receive through a Christian worldview.
10. I believe that God is leading me to go to college.