Attending college can be a remarkable starting point when interested in deepening your knowledge and strengthening your skill. However, earning a college degree isn’t the only path toward career success.

Actually, there are plenty of ways to qualify for jobs without immediately pursuing a bachelor’s degree. In this blog post, we look into the top college alternatives, including ways to start earning money quickly, build job-specific skills, and attain career credentials over time.

Enter the Workforce

It’s becoming increasingly common for companies to ease or eliminate their education requirements for job candidates, more so in the high-paying tech industry. Many jobs, like project coordinator or web developer no longer require a college degree. If you showcase that you carry with you the right job skills, you may already qualify for entry-level positions.

It would work to your advantage when you choose to search for employment opportunities that don’t include an education requirement. But if you meet most of the remaining qualification requirements, it may be worth applying for the role anyway.

Earn a Professional Certificate

Certificate programs are lengthier programs that last anywhere from three to six months that are designed to build and enhance jobs skills for specific career paths. More often than not, they conclude with a credential you can feature on your resume of LinkedIn profile.

Considering certificate programs tend to center the education on necessary job skills and don’t call for peripheral components, they tend to take less time to complete than a degree. They are also significantly less expensive, costing anywhere from $50 per month to about $6,000 for a complete program.

Enroll in Community College

We can never complete our list of college alternatives without mentioning the need to attend community college at some point in your life. In fact, it is a more economically available option for people who want to continue their formal education in a traditional classroom setting.

If pursuing and undergraduate degree, community colleges often award degrees at the associate level, while four-year colleges award bachelor’s degree. You can also earn a certificate or take individual courses at a community college.