Why are you here? Most of us have probably grown up with the assumption that after high school, you go to college. And obviously since we are all here, this assumption was correct.

Let’s assume for argument’s sake that all of us attend this fine institution of higher learning for somewhat similar reasons: We want to expand our minds and horizons, we thrive on acquiring knowledge, we want to gain a deeper understanding of human nature, we strive to develop insight and enlightenment … or at the very least we are hoping to land a cool, high paying or highly rewarding job.

But college is not for everyone. Having a college degree does not guarantee that a person will get his dream job, make a lot of money or be personally fulfilled. With the economic hardships of the past two years, we probably all know college graduates who are still looking for jobs, and others who have taken jobs far below their perceived experience or educational level.

What’s worse is that, according to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, only 55.9 percent of American college freshman who entered in 2002 ended up with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree by 2008. That means more than 40 percent of said students did not graduate in six years — and I’d bet most of them are still paying off college debt for a degree they never earned.

In an article for the National Association of Scholars, retired U. Wisconsin professor Thomas Reeves said, “Going to college has become a national fad … Is it always a prudent investment, for the individual and for society, to be sending junior off to the dorm?”

It’s a valid question. Especially when you couple the high rate of college quitters with U.S. government reports that there is a skilled labor shortage. Add that 23 of the 30 jobs projected to grow at the fastest rate in the next 10 years do not require a college degree and one is left to wonder if some students who have grown up with the doctrine, “after high school, I will go to college,” would have preferred never to have started college in the first place.

In a May piece in The New York Times Jacques Steinberg wrote, “A small but influential group of economists and educators is pushing another pathway: for some students, no college at all. It’s time, they say, to develop credible alternatives for students unlikely to be successful pursuing a higher degree, or who may not be ready to do so.”

So maybe four years of college shouldn’t be the default. Pursuing any sort of education past high school is a significant investment of time and money and for some, it may be one that doesn’t pay off.