Why I’m Not Raising My Kids to Go to College

I’m not raising my kids for college. Which shouldn’t be a controversial thing to say when you’re a homeschool mum.

We’ve already looked at the traditional school system and said, “Actually, I think we can do this differently.” We’ve researched curriculum, rearranged our lives and accepted that people will occasionally ask whether our children have any friends.

But then, when they turn eighteen, we’re supposed to send them straight back into the traditional education system—just with more expensive textbooks?

I think that’s worth questioning.

If my children need a degree to pursue the work God has called them to, wonderful. But university should be a useful tool—not the target of their entire education.

So I want to share three questions we’ll ask before paying for a degree, and what I’m doing in our homeschool now to prepare them for something bigger than university admission.

Because I followed the “sensible” path myself. And I’m still paying for it.

My education didn’t become my career

I’m a second-generation Christian homeschool mum of three. My parents encouraged tertiary education because they genuinely wanted us to have good opportunities.

I spent six years in tertiary education. Along the way, I completed a nursing qualification and a Medical Science degree, and attended medical school before health issues and a growing realisation that it wasn’t the right fit led me to discontinue.

Today, I’m not using either qualification in my work. I earn a full-time income through blogging, video editing and presenting—skills I learned myself from books, blogs and YouTube.

And I’m still paying off approximately seventy thousand Australian dollars in student debt.

What paying off my student loans feels like at times…

Financially and in many other ways, I don’t believe those years were the best use of my time.

Now, that doesn’t prove university is a bad investment for everyone. However, it explains why I want my children to ask better questions before enrolling.

So let's start with the one I wish I’d asked first.

1. Does this career actually require this degree? 🎓

Not, “What would you enjoy studying?”

“What work are you trying to become qualified to do?”

Those are different questions.

A student might begin a broad science degree expecting to become a health professional, only to discover that the particular career they want requires another qualification afterwards.

The first degree wasn’t the finish line. It was the entrance ticket to more study.

Suddenly, a three-year plan becomes five or six. It’s like reaching the checkout and discovering the price tag only covered the box.

A degree doesn’t guarantee a graduate-level job

And graduating doesn’t guarantee a graduate-level job. In America, the New York Fed reported that forty-two per cent of recent college graduates were underemployed in the second quarter of 2026.

That means they were working in jobs that typically didn’t require a bachelor’s degree—not that they were unemployed or that their education was worthless. It’s also an early-career snapshot, not their lifetime outcome. But it challenges the assumption that a degree automatically delivers the career advertised.

Look beyond the university brochure

A university brochure tells you what a course could lead to.

But I want to know how many graduates actually got there.

Universities receive tuition revenue for providing education, not for guaranteeing a particular job.

So we should investigate completion rates, employment outcomes and the qualifications employers actually require.

We’d also inspect the subjects. I believe in learning things because they’re true, beautiful and worthwhile—not merely profitable. But I still want to know whether this expensive package is the wisest way to learn them.

Because even a necessary degree has to answer our second question.

2. Is the likely outcome worth the complete cost? 💰

College graduates generally earn more on average. But an average cannot tell us whether this degree, at this price, makes sense for this child.

Imagine two eighteen-year-olds. One studies for four years. The other starts working, gaining experience and saving.

At twenty-two, the graduate may begin earning more each week. But the worker already has a head start—and money saved and invested earlier has longer to compound. They might even have enough for a house deposit before the graduate finishes their degree!

Now, that doesn’t prove the worker will finish wealthier.

Some students work while studying, and some degrees lead to substantial earnings. But comparing salaries alone misses the income forgone, the debt, and what those early savings might have become.

The house I didn’t buy

When I was eighteen, I wanted to buy a house for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. My parents encouraged study instead. That house is now worth around eight hundred and fifty thousand.

My dad later regretted advising me to go to university instead of keeping working and buying the house.

This experience taught me that studying costs more than the amount on the university invoice. It also costs opportunities.

The cost isn’t only financial

And not all those opportunities are financial.

My husband, Tristan, spent seven years in tertiary education. His physiotherapy qualifications have benefited our family. But his demanding postgraduate course affected when we felt able to have children.

We had children later than we otherwise might have.

Now, there isn’t one correct timetable for everyone. But marriage, children, independence and starting a business are real considerations—not things we should only think about after another seven years have disappeared.

When I considered the long road through medicine and specialist training, I did wonder whether I’d finish just in time to start thinking about retirement.

So as homeschool parents, we should compare the whole pathway, not just the first degree.

What does it cost in money, time and the life my child actually hopes to live?

You think one degree is enough…but often it isn’t…

3. Is this a wise fit for this child?

This includes their gifts, how they learn, and the spiritual environment they’ll enter.

Many of us chose homeschooling because we cared about the worldview shaping our children. We didn’t believe education was spiritually neutral when they were eight.

Why would we suddenly assume it becomes neutral when they turn eighteen?

I’m concerned about university environments where views of truth, identity and sexuality conflict with Scripture. If my children can pursue their calling without entering that environment, I’d generally encourage them to consider that path.

Now, of course, that doesn’t mean every lecturer is hostile to Christianity.

But it means we should investigate the actual institution, course, and support available—and not just assume an impressive reputation makes everything harmless.

Of course, avoiding university doesn’t remove every challenge to their faith. They’ll encounter competing beliefs at work, through friends and online too.

Teaching them to think critically

So I don’t merely want to keep them away from bad arguments. I want to teach them how to recognise one.

A degree doesn’t automatically produce critical thinking. But neither does homeschooling.

Students can learn to examine evidence—or simply work out the approved answer, repeat it convincingly and collect the mark.

I want my children asking, “Is that true? What’s the evidence? What assumptions are being made? How does this fit with Scripture?”

And I want them to recognise a weak argument even when it comes from somebody they agree with.

Including me. Slightly inconvenient, but probably important.

What could they do instead?

Now, none of this means the alternative is sitting at home waiting for a career to arrive.

An apprenticeship, employment with training, a recognised industry qualification or a targeted course may be a better fit.

I once paid an electrical business around ninety dollars an hour. That wasn’t necessarily the electrician’s take-home pay—businesses have expenses. But it reminded me that a trade isn’t a disappointing consolation prize.

I did briefly consider asking whether he needed an apprentice.

And practical work has value beyond the pay. There’s something satisfying about saying, “I fixed that. I built that. I made that useful.”

It requires judgement, skill and problem-solving. I don’t want my children thinking respectable jobs happen behind desks, while working with your hands is what you do if you weren’t clever enough for university.

Trying a small business while living at home

I’d also love them to try a small business while living at home, when they can experiment without supporting an entire household.

Gardening, dog walking, pet feeding—something with real customers and manageable costs.

They’d learn to communicate, keep their word, calculate expenses and provide something people value.

They’d also discover that working very hard on an idea doesn’t guarantee anyone will buy it.

Better to learn that before ordering five hundred jars of homemade beetroot chutney and discovering your entire customer base is Grandma.

What this changes in our homeschool today

But my children are still young. I don’t need to choose their careers now—and I don’t want to close doors before they’ve discovered what they like and what they’re good at.

I still want strong reading, writing and maths. I want them prepared to pursue further study if they need it.

But I also want them managing money, taking responsibility and learning to think wisely.

That might mean comparing supermarket prices, saving for something they want, completing a job properly or explaining why they believe something is true.

I don’t want a child who can explain the fall of the Roman Empire but needs a committee, a project manager and Daddy to make a dentist appointment.

And above all, I want them to know and love Jesus, developing a strong habit of reading their Bible every day and praying.

Their worth is not measured by a salary, a university acceptance letter, or how impressive their career sounds at church.

But what if my child wants to go to university?

You might hear, “Mummy, I really want to become a nurse.”

It’s not like you’re going to say, “No. Absolutely not. Do you know what they teach people at those universities?”

If a degree genuinely serves their calling, I’ll support them. We’ll ask whether it’s required, whether the complete cost makes sense and whether the pathway is wise for them.

I’m not raising my children for university. I’m raising them to love Jesus, think wisely, work diligently and serve others.

University can have a place in that plan.

It just won’t be the plan by default.

Exploring classical education in our homeschool 📚

Now that we’ve looked at why I’m not raising my children with university as the default goal, the question is: what kind of education am I actually trying to give them instead?

Because there’s one approach that focuses on forming children who can think wisely, recognise truth and communicate what they believe—but it also comes with Latin, Great Books and a workload that can make an ordinary Tuesday morning rather interesting.

In my video on classical education, I explain it in plain English, show you what it actually looks like in a Christian homeschool, and help you decide whether it’s worth exploring for your family without spending the next three weeks researching curriculum.