Big Decision Lab
Choose your path — then check the math.
Four routes after high school, compared on cost, debt, and earnings over the window you pick. None of them is the 'right' one; the point is to see the trade-offs clearly.
Your assumptions
Strongest net position over 10 years
Trade / apprenticeship
Side by side
Totals across 10 years, starting the year you finish high school.
Four-year college
Higher ceiling in many fields, highest upfront cost and the longest delay before earning.
- Training years
- 4
- Upfront cost
- $88,000
- Interest paid
- $17,424
- Total earned
- $384,713
Trade / apprenticeship
Fast, low-cost, often paid while training. Strong early earnings in skilled trades.
- Training years
- 2
- Upfront cost
- $12,000
- Interest paid
- $2,376
- Total earned
- $470,688
Work right away
Earning from day one and no debt, but a flatter curve without added credentials.
- Training years
- 0
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Interest paid
- $0
- Total earned
- $389,772
Start something
Widest range of outcomes. Slow and uncertain early, uncapped if it works.
- Training years
- 1
- Upfront cost
- $4,000
- Interest paid
- $792
- Total earned
- $338,547
Change the horizon to 20 years and watch the ranking move. Short windows favor earning early; long windows favor paths with a steeper growth curve.
Costs, salaries, and growth rates are simplified national-scale illustrations, not forecasts for any person, school, or trade.