Today, a college degree is not necessary to achieve the American Dream and live a fiscally successful life. You’re just about to graduate high school. Your parents, your friends, your teachers, and society all tell you that the next step is college, that without higher education, you won’t be able to get a quality job, you’ll struggle to pay your bills, and you’ll fail.

They’re wrong. Sure, for many, college can be the perfect launching pad. The societal aspect of school can be transformative, and the exposure to different people, different thoughts, and different ideas is crucial.

But for millions of young Americans, college is not the answer. What about the teenager for whom sitting in a classroom is unfulfilling and frustrating? What about the kid with a skillset that can’t be nurtured on campus?

In Class Dismissed: Why College Isn’t the Answer, Nick Adams explains how you can achieve the American Dream without receiving a traditional education. An essential tool for parents and grandparents, this book discusses how families can recognize whether their child will get more from a trade school or a mentorship than they will from four years of study. In a warm, engaging, and often humorous fashion, Adams will inspire individuals who want to march into their professional life with a sense of empowerment that can only be attained by recognizing and doing what’s right for you.