11 Easy Ways to Educate Yourself Without College (or Reading a Book)

I’ve had this debate with so many parents about their kids going to college. To be clear, I do believe that everyone should attend some type of school after high school to continue with their education, as well as, learn valuable life lessons. For me, one of the biggest benefit of attending college was preparing me for adulting life. I had to learn how to manage my limited money with budgets, make and keep the right kind of friends, network, organize my schedule and maintain a work-life balance between partying and studying, and so on. That all being said, attending college may not be an option for you or your child for a variety of reasons, but you can still give yourself a self-education. In fact, there are plenty of easy ways to educate yourself without college. Here are 11 ways that you can get an education without going to college:

Kickstart a Project

You can organize a funding campaign with such online platforms as IndieGoGo or Kickstarter. Then use the funds for an educational opportunity or creative idea. The campaign itself will also help you learn such skills as how to manage budgets, social media, marketing, and other projects.

Start a Business

The benefit of kickstarting a project is that it can spill over into becoming a business. It can be a small and even temporary business with little to no investment required, besides sweat equity, or it can turn into something sustainable and scalable. The experience that you receive from this venture will serve as its own education.

Create a Website

Create a website that showcases your personal and professional growth, portfolio, accomplishments, and niches. This will teach you valuable business skills such as personal branding, editing, organizing, web management, and marketing.

Write

Thanks to online independent publishing platforms, it’s easy to get a writing project out to the public. This serves as a great learning opportunity. By writing and publishing a memoir, DIY or self-help book, you can sharpen your project, time management, and organizational skills. You will also learn about book formatting and how to work with web content management systems.

Take Advantage of Free and Inexpensive Courses

There are plenty of opportunities to take an introductory course for little or no money. Depending on your interest, several organizations offer online certification courses that give you valuable skills in a specific field. This serves as a great way to tap into a potential career path. There are also plenty of educational opportunities through TED talks and DO lectures as well as courses offered by your local community college, Academic Earth, Khan Academy, Skillshare, StackSocial, and Udemy.

Define Your Goals

Take some time to sit down and write down the things that you wish to accomplish and improve on over time. Break down your list into three categories: short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals. Hold yourself accountable to your list and work on improving your skills. As time goes on you will find yourself living a closer version to the life that you dream of.

Find a Mentor

One of the best way to learn is from someone who’s skilled in your area of interest. Find a trustworthy person whose achievements align with your goals and have them guide you on your journey. Their wealth of knowledge is an invaluable asset.

Grow Your Community of Peers

Learning from our peers is an everyday form of education. Grow your personal network by forming deeper connections with people at your workplace, local events, and through online interest groups.

Develop a Skill

Hands-on skills sharpen your mind and, in some cases, expand your marketability. For instance, sports instruction develops your leadership, organizational, communication, and conflict resolving skills. Cooking helps you follow a project as required within a certain amount of time.

Teach Others

Share a niche or interest by filming and sharing instructional videos or leading public workshops. By doing this, you can acquire skills ranging from digital content management to public speaking.

Work Your Way Across the Country

Resort destinations are peppered across the nation and are always looking for seasonal help in a variety of positions. Signing on for a brief period of time diversifies your skillset and traveling through the country can expose you to all sorts of new cultures.

Whatever you do, keep doing it. Education is really a lifelong opportunity! Let me know what you do to educate yourself without attending a college; I’d love to hear from you!