"However, while 48K-55K may seem like a lot of money, in reality it is not." That totally and completely depends on the individual situation: location, family, lifestyle, etc. My dad taught junior high for 35 years, my mom stayed at home. I doubt very much that my dad made more than 60K in a year and that was at the end of his career when there were no dependents at home (he retired about 8 years ago). He was able to raise four kids on that salary. Granted we never took trips to Hawaii or had cool cars or even HBO but it was plenty of money. There are plenty of good jobs in the trades that go unfilled every year because people think they need to make $100K a year in order to survive. That's just not true. Not everyone is fit for college and not everyone should go.