When I was in fourth grade, my school district started a program called “My Journey to College” in which students had to select a school and a major and do a research project on our selected university.

In hindsight, just the phrase “My Journey to College” is a little paternalistic. It assumes all students will be successful only if they go to college.

This phrase is a part of this huge stigma we have in this country. Everywhere you go, you hear parents encouraging their children to attend college even if college is not for them.

But what about the popularly cited statistic that those with college degrees earn $1 million more in their lifetime than those without?

Arizona State University cited that same statistic in November 2007 to justify tuition increases.

But according to the Chronicle for Higher Education, Sandy Baum, a senior policy analyst at the College Board and an economics professor at Skidmore College, responded to a letter about this issue by saying, “[A letter] correctly points out that many observers exaggerate reality when they claim that college graduates earn a million dollars more than high-school graduates over their work lives.”

Translation: The million dollar statistic is exaggerated.

But the issue still stands. School districts continue to emphasize programs pushing students to go to college when the reality is they don’t want to.

But College Board is pushing the college experience, suggesting it is the only way to be successful.

The College Board’s own Elementary School Counselor’s Guide says, “Build a college-going culture based on early college awareness by nurturing in students the confidence to aspire to college and the resilience to overcome challenges along the way.”

In a very round-about way, the College Board is telling academic counselors of elementary students that college is the only chance for success and that forcing aspirations of college on elementary schoolers will lead to their success.

I find this very appalling. It begs the question, “Why?”

Why do foundations like College Board create this mentality even when there are many more options to becoming successful?

The career I have chosen is teaching, one that is dependent on a college degree. That’s fine with me because I have a passion for teaching and I believe that I will enjoy what lies ahead.

But when I hear about people rejecting careers they are passionate about just because their parents want them to go to college, I am a little disappointed.

The reality is college is not the only way to gain success in this life, and with the current recession, it might not even be the best way. School districts continue to push the idea that the only way to be successful is to go to college citing million dollar statistics to justify the expensive price tag.

School districts need to realize showing students all career opportunities objectively will eventually serve students better than offering only one acceptable choice.

School administrators think having a college degree makes you smarter. Well, with everyone going to college, sooner or later those who choose to pursue careers like plumbing will be in demand while those of us with degrees will be in debt and unemployed.

Let’s think again about who’s smarter.