No Stupid Questions

As someone who spent 4 years failing to get a 2 year degree when I was fresh out of highschool, I went back in 2021, got a 2 year degree and I've since more than tripled my pre-college income. In 5 years I've gone from working at a callcenter earning $12/hour to being a sysadmin about to kick off an independent contracting gig for a previous employer. My advice is, do it! Best of all if there's a community college you can attend, since those are usually much cheaper (mine had tuition of about $4k per semester) and if you're going to move into an industry like mine, a 2 year degree means you're back in the workforce fulltime sooner. And you can always go back again later for a 4 year degree if you prefer.

Going back to college is also an opportunity to enjoy the parts of college you might have blown off the last time around. When I was fresh out of highschool I didn't bother with any extracurriculars. Going back as a slightly older young adult I threw myself at extracurriculars as much as I had time for and made a bunch of really good friends that way!

Might trump gut the available student aid? Sure it also might not happen. Might the college experience become worse over the course of his presidency? Maybe! But college is an investment, and any investment will have more time to pay off the sooner you do it in life. Best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago, and the second best time is today!

Edit: To clarify on how you pay for college in the states, step 0 is fill out the FAFSA. Chances are as a young adult living on your own you'll qualify for the Pell Grant which should cover 100% of tuition with some amount extra. Next apply at your college of choice, and figure out how much you have to make up. If you're reducing your work hours or pay while in college you might need to take student loans to cover the difference. Try to only accept the federally-backed student loans because those have incredibly lenient payback terms and still have avenues to forgiveness after 10-20 years private student loans are far more like traditional loans in that you'll be in for some shit if you don't keep up with the payments.

And for figuring out how affordable your chosen degree program and career path is, start digging into the Bureau of Labor Statistics data to get an idea of what pay rates you can expect once you get some experience under your belt in your field.

Short answer: This is worst weekend in your life to decide

Long answer:

Literally no one knows what is about to happen.

We might have a recession, in which case this is probably the best time for it

We might go into a depression, in which case what degree you're going for matters greatly. You need something that will get you a job in a different kind of world, one where many degrees will be useless, skills you can use to work remotely overseas might be good, but it really depends what you're going to be doing

The global economy might just collapse, in which case everyone should probably be picking up practical skills rather than going for higher education

Just wait and see until things stabilize... If it happens quickly, it'll probably just be a recession... If not, all bets are off

Well it could be shitty at universities for the next while. But honestly, it seems like we’re probably gonna have an economic collapse. Might not be the worst thing to be back in school while that’s going on and maybe you miss the worst parts of the job market.

And also, if it’s something you want to do? And you feel ready? I feel like you should do it regardless. There will still be financial aid at many places regardless of the trump stuff.

I'm 43 and just went back. I got my associates in my 20s. My fiance went to college for the first time at 38 and is about to get thier bachelor's.

Its always easier sooner than later. Once you start earning more at a job and getting settled, the prospect of quitting work ( or reducing it ) gets much tougher

[off topic?]

I found this book when I was a little older than you are now. At the time I was on compensation for a workplace injury. I wanted a new start but had no idea what to do. I got the book and was directed to a career that I really enjoyed. It was a six month certification program.

"Discover What You Are Best At" by Linda Gail.

They probably have a copy at your local library.

You may want to investigate further, you don't get financial aid indefinitely and already having done four years might already not have the access you seem to think you do.

Why do you want to go back to college? How much debt or financial risk can you take on? How much will the college program increase your long-term financial security?

I went back to school at 35. It's different but pretty good

if you want to go back, then going back to college is a good move and a good investment.

Yes

Go ahead and start now. Im 34 and have been wanting and had the ability to go back for years, and if I would have, I'd be way done. I just started this year, and I'm mad I didn't go sooner. The political landscape is going to be bad the rest of our lives. You just gotta roll with the punches and dont let shit you cant control get you down. Never give up! You got this. Its never a waste of time if your working on yourself