Why Aren’t Guidance Counselors Pushing Trade Schools?
For more than 15 years, I’ve worked in and around education. Today, I’m also a high school football coach and co-founder of Tradecraft Schools, so I spend a lot of time thinking about the choices young people are being asked to make about their futures. One thing continues to stand out: four-year college is still too often treated as the default, while trade schools, apprenticeships, and technical training are presented as secondary options.
I’m not anti-college. I went to college, and for many students, it is absolutely the right path. But it is not the only path to a successful career. If we want students to make informed decisions, we need to give the skilled trades the same serious consideration we give traditional college.
The Goal Should Be Finding the Right Path for the Student
The job of a guidance counselor should not simply be to send as many students as possible to four-year colleges. It should be to help each student understand where their strengths, interests and goals might lead them. For one student, that may mean earning a bachelor's degree and eventually going to medical school. For another, it may mean community college. Someone else may be better suited for an apprenticeship, technical program or skilled trade. None of those options should automatically be viewed as more successful or more respectable than another.
The question we should be asking is whether the path makes sense for the student taking it. Instead of starting every conversation with, "Where do you want to go to college?" I think we should be asking, "What do you want your life to look like?" From there, we can talk about what kind of education, training and career path will help that student get there.
1. Students Need to Understand the Economics of Their Decision
At 17 or 18 years old, we ask students to make one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives. Before they make it, they deserve to understand the real economics behind each option. How much will the education or training cost? How long will it take? Will they need to take on debt? How soon can they realistically begin earning? What do employment opportunities look like? What kind of advancement is possible five or ten years into that career?
For some students, those answers will point directly toward a four-year university. For others, they may point toward an apprenticeship, technical program or trade school. A student who can complete technical training, enter the workforce quickly, continue learning while earning and eventually become a master tradesperson, supervisor or business owner deserves to understand that path just as clearly as the traditional college route. That is not steering kids away from college. It is giving them enough information to make an educated decision.
2. Not Every Student Learns the Same Way
This is especially important to me after spending so many years in education. I have seen talented students struggle in traditional classroom environments and then completely change when they are given the opportunity to learn by doing. Some students thrive sitting behind a desk, reading, writing and studying theory. Others learn best when they can work with their hands, troubleshoot a real problem, build something or understand how a system works.
Put that student in front of an electrical panel, HVAC system or plumbing project, and you may see a completely different level of focus and confidence. Those students are not less intelligent. They may simply learn differently.
Too often, though, our education system sends the message that success means four more years in a classroom and anything else is a backup plan. I think that mindset overlooks an enormous amount of talent.
3. Skilled Trades Are Careers, Not Consolation Prizes
One of the biggest perceptions we need to change is the idea that becoming an electrician, HVAC technician or plumber is what someone does because college "didn't work out." These are skilled professions. They require technical knowledge, problem-solving ability, hands-on experience and continued learning. They also offer far more career paths than many students probably realize.
Someone may begin as an entry-level technician and continue building their skills. Over time, they might earn additional certifications or licenses, move into leadership, become a supervisor, estimator or project manager, or eventually start a company of their own. That is a career path. Students should be hearing about those opportunities while they are still in high school, not after they have already spent years pursuing another direction because they never knew the trades were an option.
We should be bringing employers into schools, introducing students to people working in these careers, letting them visit jobsites, and giving them exposure to apprenticeships and technical programs before graduation. If we expect students to make informed decisions, we have to actually show them what their options look like.
4. Start With the Student, Not the Destination
Career conversations should start well before senior year. Students need time to explore different careers, ask questions, visit schools, meet employers, and figure out what type of work actually interests them before graduation forces a decision.
More importantly, the conversation should start with the student, not the destination. Ask what they enjoy, how they learn, whether they like working with their hands, how quickly they want to enter the workforce, and what they want their future to look like. Then determine what education or training makes sense.
Maybe that path is college. Maybe it is community college, an apprenticeship, or technical training. The win is not getting a kid into college. The win is helping a kid build a successful life.
5. Why I Helped Start Tradecraft Schools
This belief is a big part of why I helped start Tradecraft Schools. At our San Antonio campus, we offer accelerated six-week programs in HVAC, electrical and plumbing, with the majority of training taking place in the lab. The idea is simple: if someone wants to learn a trade, they should spend a significant amount of their training actually practicing that trade.
We did not build Tradecraft because we believe every student should choose trade school over college. We built it because students and career changers deserve to have another credible option.
Someone should be able to walk through our campus, meet the instructors, see the labs, pick up the tools and understand what a future in the skilled trades could actually look like before deciding whether it is right for them. That is what real career exploration should look like.
College Deserves a Seat at the Table. So Do the Trades.
I also want to be clear that this is not about blaming guidance counselors. They have incredibly difficult jobs. They work with large numbers of students, juggle countless responsibilities and often operate within systems that have emphasized four-year college for decades. What I would like to see is a broader conversation.
Students need counselors, parents, teachers, employers and schools to show them the full range of possibilities available after graduation. College should absolutely be part of that conversation. So should community college, apprenticeships, technical training and the skilled trades.
We do not have to tear down one path in order to make room for another. We just need to stop pretending there is only one definition of success. Our students deserve to understand every credible path in front of them and have the opportunity to decide which one makes the most sense for their future.
College isn’t the only path. Come see what the trades can offer.
Tour our HVAC, electrical, and plumbing labs, meet the instructors, and see what hands-on training at Tradecraft looks like before deciding what comes next.