Faced with rising costs, students investigate alternative plans for life after high school

College applications. School tours. Scholarship essays. Acceptance letters. In Hollywood dramas and cultural narratives, these are defining features of senior year, the frantic work reinforced each time someone asks, “Where are you going to college?” Yet, most students at West do not begin four-year university study immediately after graduation. Among the Class of 2024, 12.2 percent of students were enrolled at a two-year institution at the time of graduation, and 48.6 percent had no plans of going to college.

While many students want to pursue higher education, some see the high tuition costs and significant time investment of a four-year university experience as incompatible with their future ambitions and current realities. In a survey conducted this October, some students described college as an unnecessary step to achieve thoroughly-planned aims.

“I have no reason to go to college and most people that do not have a real reason to go to college spend their time partying and I am not going to associate myself with that,” one anonymous senior wrote. “I have a good plan and already have my business almost ready to go and I have someone who is willing to have a contract with someone to advertise for me. I want to do what I am passionate about for work and what I love.”

Though he sees opportunity in higher education, junior Travis Thompson is considering a more direct pathway to work through a technical college degree or apprenticeship.

“I’m thinking more about the cost because I know my parents could probably use help at home paying for stuff, so I would want to stay and help them, but college could also get me into a higher-paying job than without a degree,” he said.

Dr. Chris Matheny, President of Fox Valley Technical College, recognizes that cost is a primary consideration for many students as they prepare for life after high school, and says that many students attend technical college for this reason.

“Certain programs have technical equipment that they need to buy or tools or things like that that obviously have costs with them, but $10,000 is a really good benchmark [for a two-year program’s cost]. That allows students to explore careers that they may be interested in without diving into a whole lot of debt,” he said. “Our students tend to be from this area. They tend to be staying close to home, whatever that means for them, and then working as they’re going through, so it really is an affordable way for them to get a start in higher education.”

Technical colleges can be highly responsive to shifts in demand for certain training, seen recently at FVTC in the expansion of capacity in the college’s dental hygiene program and the creation of a new surgical tech program, according to Matheny.

“Typically, what we would do in our technical degree programs is look at both what students have asked us about and what our employer partners are asking for preparing the workforce,” he said.

Matheny explained that responding to the labor market also means redirecting resources from areas that no longer seem relevant.

“We don’t have any programs that aren’t really popular because those programs get sunset,” he said. “We don’t keep them around for students just to spend their money and then wonder if they’re going to have an opportunity at the end of their program.” 

Though technical colleges have traditionally offered students programs oriented towards specific industries and careers, meeting shifting demand at FVTC has also meant leaning towards the multidisciplinary education at the foundation of a four-year degree, according to Matheny.

“We now have an Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degree, and those two are really more general education focused,” he said. “Students who want to transfer to a university, who may not know exactly what it is that they want to study right away, they can come here, take the general education coursework, and get a two-year associate degree that will transfer to any number of our four-year partners.”

Nationally, 41.7 percent of transfers to four-year universities were from two-year institutions in the fall of 2024, representing the largest share of transfers, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. This trend is evident in the local community, with transfer enrollment rising significantly at UW-Oshkosh in the past few years, according to Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Ed Martini.

“Most of our transfers used to come from the UW colleges, like our UWO Fond du Lac and Fox Cities campuses, but those populations have largely shifted now to the tech colleges, where students can earn their associate’s degree at roughly half the price of a UW,” he said. “Our transfer numbers now come almost entirely from those technical college campuses, especially our primary feeders of Fox Valley Tech and Moraine Park.”

Matheny notes that, in addition to its comparatively low cost, FVTC presents small class sizes, a close bond with instructors, and a different approach to instruction than students are likely to find at a university.

“The value added for technical colleges is that very hands-on experience that students get,” he said. “That can come in our labs, it can come in a classroom setting with a professor or teacher that a student can have an ongoing dialogue with. That's a different kind of hands-on technical training.”

As they explore their interests and possible future career paths, students at technical colleges also have a unique opportunity to collaborate with peers who have experience working in those industries, according to Matheny.

“One of the really cool things about the technical college system is that the average age of our students is about 28. We have a lot of 18 or 19-year-olds who are coming to us right out of high school, but we also have a lot of adult learners who bring great experience to the classroom. You’re going to be in a classroom here with individuals who are out working in the world, potentially working in the field that you’re interested in.”

Many students elect not to pursue higher education immediately after high school, opting for direct entry into the workplace or other plans. These students are not without options for training and support, however. Thompson is currently taking CNA courses through the Youth Apprenticeship program, one way high school students can merge their academics and career training. Next year, he will earn school credit for paid work towards CNA certification.

“I have to take classes in order to actually become a youth apprentice, and then I get to work at a nursing home. I can start working this year, but it wouldn’t count for the 400 hours I need,” he said. 

The Youth Apprenticeship CNA program is relatively new at West, added as part of what Assistant Principal Heidi Wheaton says is a push to expand the school’s vocational training offerings.

“There’s a lot of openings in engineering, plumbing, all the trades you hear about—welding and nurses. We even have a deficit in education with the teacher shortage,” she said. “All of the places that you see where we are going to need more employment, we will try to give programs where students can get information and experience education through the high schools.”

West is not alone in investing in post-secondary training and education. The Department of Workforce Development reports that the Youth Apprenticeship program set a new enrollment record in Wisconsin in the 2023-2024 school year with 9,932 participating students, and it added four new programs that year. Dual enrollment participation has also reached new highs in recent years with both four-year and two-year partner institutions, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum. In the 2023-2024 academic year, 15,588 Wisconsin high school students took courses for dual credit from a University of Wisconsin school, and 63,115 took courses offering credit from a school in the Wisconsin Technical College system.

Wheaton says that, as West’s seniors look ahead to life beyond graduation, the school is preparing for the needs of future students.

“It is something that is a work in progress, and it is definitely a priority for the district to increase that for students, to have real-life experience on-job training, and have credit and education in those areas,” she said.

by Aria Boehler

Published November 3, 2025

Oshkosh West Index Volume 122 Issue II