President Obama wants to make college more financially accessible for everyone who wants to go. Wonderful. Let’s make sure that everyone who wants to avoid the real world for a few more years can take up space on a college campus.

I am so tired of the emphasis on going to college. I think there are already too many people enrolling in our colleges and universities. Did you barely graduate from high school? Did you not enjoy being in school and learning? If the answers to one or both of these questions is “no,” then why are you going to college? (I am referring to eighteen-year-old students fresh out of high school, not older students who perhaps did not do well in earlier schooling but have since found focus and a definite desire for higher education.) Not every young adult should be going to college, and that’s OK. Maybe more parents, teachers, counselors and students need to be more honest and realistic about what the future holds. When it comes to college, please … consider leaving some children behind.

Check out this fact:

Among high-school students who graduated in the bottom 40 percent of their classes, and whose first institutions were four-year colleges, two-thirds had not earned diplomas eight and a half years later … even those who do manage to graduate rarely end up in careers that require a college education..

We need to put more effort in our high schools and perhaps our homes on vocational training that will prepare students for gainful employment right after graduation (mechanic, electrician, construction, etc). Every child has talents and wonderful things to offer the world, but they are not always based in academics. Don’t put everyone in the honors classes. Don’t think it’s a great idea to get as many students to take the AP Calculus test as possible. If your kid probably won’t be going to college, get him an after-school job that teaches some skills that will be valuable in the future. Or, whatever happened to being an apprentice? Do you want to be a chef? Go work in a great restaurant and learn everything you can. Interested in running a clothing boutique? Get into retail and ask the owner as many questions as possible. If your professional dream does not require a college degree, don’t go to college.

I promise that I am completely consistent when it comes to my own family. If Catherine and/or Baby Moore Number Two (due August 2009) do not go to college either because their dreams take them in a different direction or because their academic strengths do not allow it (yes, I am sure they could get into a bottom-tier school, but I would rather them not go to school at all), I will be OK with that. Ideally, I hope they both go to great universities (preferably in a different part of the country that is a lot of fun to visit) and have an amazing time. I loved everything about college … the studying, the friends, the basketball, the research papers, everything! And, I was really good at it. Honors and Dean’s List all the way. Of course, I would love my kids to have such experiences. But, I am not going to say, “You go to college or else!” I will not have them going to college to put off making any real decisions for another four (or more) years.