I don't think it's bad at their ages. They don't know enough about how the world works to know the importance of a college diploma in today's job market. Once they get to the graduating high school phase, when all their friends start applying for/going off to college, they'll probably change their minds, if not for the value of their own education then for wanting to do the same thing as all their friends. Peer pressure is a bitch. Though even if they don't change their minds, it's not the end of the world. People survive without diplomas, they just have to be a little more ...creative and willing to work a lot harder.

College is not in everyone's "dreams" just like certain jobs aren't in everyone's "dreams."

College is something that is pretty much necessary to get a high paying job now-a-days; however, now even college isn't getting people jobs. I have many friends who have graduated the past 3 years and can't find any work. If they don't want to go to college, then they don't go to college. The WORST thing you could do is berate them and make life harder on them than it will already be without a college education. Instead, make sure they know that there are trade school and training programs. Make sure they know that earning a living will be significantly harder working at a grocery store or a pizza joint for the rest of their lives. Support them by educating them on how to not got to college and still make something of yourself (like MANY people do).

Nothing wrong with not going to college. I personally regret going. Essentially, I wasted nearly six years of my life in a field I won't be making a career in. My undergrad degree and the little bit of graduate work I did has absolutely no marginal utility to me, and at least $70K worth of marginal cost when you figure in student loans and lost income during those years. It was not a smart decision for me. 

There's more than just the cost of tuition and stuff you have to figure in. There's also lost wages, lost interest, among many other things. I've used this scenario several times before, and many of you have seen it, but I'll repost here because it rings so true, and it really shows that if you're just talking financially, that college is not a smart move: 

Consider two childhood friends, Ernie and Bill. Hard workers with helpful families, each saves exactly $16,594 for college. Ernie doesn't get accepted to a school he likes. Instead, he starts work at 18 and invests his college savings in a mutual fund that tracks the broad stock market.

Throughout his life, he makes average yearly pay for a high school graduate with no college, starting at $15,901 after taxes and peaking at $32,538. Each month, he adds to his stock fund 5% of his after-tax income, close to the nation's current savings rate. It returns 8% a year, typical for stock investors.

Bill has a typical college experience. He gets into a public college and after two years transfers to a private one. He spends $49,286 on tuition and required fees, the average for such a track. I'm not counting room and board, since Bill must pay for his keep whether he goes to college or not. Bill gets average-size grants, adjusted for average probabilities of receiving them, and so pays $34,044 for college.

He leaves school with an average-size student loan and a good interest rate: $17,450 at 5%. The $16,594 he has saved for college, you see, is precisely enough to pay what his loans don't cover.

Bill will have higher pay than Ernie his whole life, starting at $23,505 after taxes and peaking at $56,808. Like Ernie, he sets aside 5%. At that rate, it will take him 12 years to pay off his loan. Debt-free at 34, he starts adding to the same index fund as Ernie, making bigger monthly contributions with his higher pay. But when the two reunite at 65 for a retirement party, Ernie will have grown his savings to nearly $1.3 million. Bill will have less than a third of that.

I think that college is important, but it's a conclusion people have to come to themselves.  Ask the girls what they want to be when they grow up.  When they're a little older, ask them again and have them look up what kind of experience they need (be it college or not) to start in that career.  It'll be easier to figure out whether or not to focus on college if they have a goal in mind.

There's nothing wrong with not going to college, and there's definitely nothing wrong with waiting to go. When I first started college, I didn't do nearly as well as I had in high school because I just really, really didn't want to be there. I wasn't sure yet of what I wanted to do for work. So I basically  squandered thousands of dollars of scholarship money being unhappy and, as a result, not trying to do well. Now I do know what I want to do, and I'm doing quite well in school as a result. Instead of encouraging them to go to college (something they don't seem to want to do anyway), I would encourage them to explore their true passions and find out what kind of work suits them.

@NikBv@xanga - As it is, I'm going to be shelling out more than enough for flight school anyway. Professional flight school costs an average of around $100K-$150K depending on where you go. It's ridiculous. 

@xa06@xanga - My family is this way as well.  Even more than that, my sister and I are expected to go to graduate school after college.  My father is an optometrist and my mother a psychologist, and as they both went we are expected to go as well.  While college was never a question in my mind, I will be a senior in college this upcoming fall and I don't know exactly how committed I am to going on after.  My mom seems ok with it, but my dad is outraged that I would even suggest that I not go to graduate school or, god forbid, take a gap year.

yup, it's different in my family. I'm from Peru and lets just say, college is like high school over there. Something that everyone does, you must do it. You have to do it. no question about it. It's like high school. There's is no maybe or is it necessary??... Over there, if you ask any person, they most likely has a degree. In  US , its exactly the opposite , its sad :(
But then my mother was a doctor and my father and engineer, so it depends on what kind of background you come from??,....
You can't exactly compare parents that were high school drop outs and parents that have really high expectations.

There are a lot of factors that go into how a person feels about furthering their education such as parental guidance. If your parents didn't instill in them the importance of obtaining a college degree, they have to come to the conclusion that it's not important unless they find some other source that can convince them otherwise. 

College is a necessity for a lot of things, but not everything. If someone wants to get into something that wouldn't necessarily require them to go to college, I still would recommend it if they can afford it and just do a liberal arts degree with a business minor. The only reason I didn't do that was because I want to be a public accountant and that requires very specific coursework, just like if you were trying to be an engineer or actuary, or you were in med/law school to become a doctor/lawyer.

@leanazomg@xanga - You are kind of an example of what I am talking about. You come from a family that can afford to send you to college, therefore just to make yourself a more educated, well-rounded person is reason alone to go, beyond staying competitive in the job market.

Also, if these same siblings are wishy washy when they are older and graduating high school, tell them to go to community college (unless money is a non issue). I hate seeing confused 20-somethings sitting in a big university and it's their 5th year and they still have no idea what they want to do.

@StatelessPilot@revelife -
In your scenario, though, you assume Ernie knows what he is doing at 18
when it comes to investing. Unfortunately, a lot of people aren't
driven enough to learn about that stuff at 18. Which is a shame, because
I honestly don't think you need college to become a good investor, you
just need to be good at the teaching yourself.

@StatelessPilot@revelife - I have a lot of peers I meet in various liberal arts classes that tell me I'm "smart" for majoring in accounting because it's a very practical career path (I just do it because I love it. Doing financial statements and taxes is sooo fun once I got the hang of it). But too many people major in it because it's practical, and then by the time their 30, can't take it, and end up doing something else.

When I was a kid and all my friends would talk about what they wanted to be when they grew up, I had no idea what I wanted to be and was convinced I would just die before college. My mindset has uh obviously changed a little lol XD I don't think its bad that they think that way at a young age. Just provide them with what they need to know about what their options are if they do or don't go to college and they'll make that decision on their own :)