Will College Set Your Teen Up For Life or Derail it?

By Ric Edelman | Founder, The Truth About Your Future
November 20, 2025

Of all the households in America earning more than $200,000 a year, 94% are headed by a college graduate. Over a career, college grads earn nearly a million dollars more than those who never earn a degree. They are healthier, less likely to divorce and they live about seven years longer.

Pretty compelling reasons to send your kids to college, right?

That is why college has become the default choice. Parents assume their kids will go. Guidance counselors push it. Most high school students see college as the obvious next step. Six in ten seniors head straight to college after graduation.

But here is the problem. A quarter of freshmen drop out. Only about 6 in 10 students earn a degree even after six years. Ten years after graduation, only about half of college grads are working in jobs that even require a degree. Two decades later, many are still paying off student loans.

On top of that, depression and distress are rampant on campus. Colleges are closing at an increasing rate, sometimes with no warning, leaving students stranded. No wonder most Americans now say college is not worth the cost.

So which is it. Is college the golden ticket we have always believed it to be, or a dangerous gamble that can ruin your child’s life?

The answer is: it can be either. It depends on how you and your teenager approach the decision.

Over the decades, when Jean and I were building our financial planning firm, I saw the same mistakes from well-meaning parents again and again. They told their teen they had to go to college, or had to pursue a certain major, or could attend any school they wished regardless of cost. Others sent their kids off without enough savings, virtually guaranteeing student loans that would follow them for decades.

The truth is that college is still the right choice for millions of teens, but only if you set the right goal.

If college is the path, here is the goal I want every family to adopt:

Graduate from college in four years, debt free, on the dean’s list, with a degree that lets the student build a career in the field they want to work in.

Every part of that sentence matters. Four years, not six. No student loan debt. Strong grades that show mastery of the material. A degree that actually connects to the work the student wants to do.

When families focus on that goal, the conversations change. Instead of “Where do you want to go” you start asking “What kind of life do you want to live” and “What path gets you there with the least risk and the most opportunity.”

That is what my new book, The Truth About College, is all about. I will show you how to decide whether college is the right path, how to avoid the biggest mistakes parents make and how to help your teen hit that four-year, debt free, dean’s list goal.

You will find details here on how to order the book, plus how to get my exclusive workbook, 20 Conversation Starters to Help Adults and Teens Talk About College, as a special bonus for pre orders.