You may have heard this one before — we call it “the Story of 10.” It goes like this:

For every job in the United States that requires an advanced degree, there are two that require a bachelor’s degree and seven that require technical education.

What does this mean for you? It means that a technical education — like the one you can gain at Northwest Technical College — is your path to an outstanding job.

What Technical Education Means for Your Future

With a technical education, your earning power increases — and that can make a huge difference over the course of your lifetime.

Life can be expensive. The State of Minnesota’s Cost of Living calculator estimates that, for a family of three with one full-time worker, one part-time worker and one child, annual cost of living in Beltrami County is about $47,200 per year. The full-time and part-time worker would have to make about $15.13 per hour each to earn this much.

And where does that money go? Again, from the calculator, monthly costs are estimated to be $800 each for food, housing and transportation. $200 for child care. $500 for health care. Life is expensive.

Jobs that require technical education mean, on average, higher wages — the average annual salary for an associate’s degree holder in Minnesota is $39,750. And higher wages means a better standard of living for you and for your family.

How would $1.5 million change your life?

If you work for 40 years — starting at age 22 and retiring when you’re 62 — $10 per hour makes a huge difference.

At $10 per hour, your lifetime earnings would be $832,000.

At $20 per hour, that jumps to $1.66 million. $30 per hour? $2.50 million.

What would you do with an extra $1.5 million over your working career? How would that change your life, and the lives of your family and loved ones?

…but what about today?

OK, so thinking ahead to when you’re 62 years old may be difficult. So let’s look at just one year.

At $10 per hour, working full-time, 40 hours per week, for one year will give you an income of $20,800.

At $20 per hour, working the same full-time schedule, and your income rises to $41,600 per year.

At $30 per hour, it rises to $62,400.

Compare this to the estimated cost to live in Beltrami County — $47,200 per year. What salary do you need to live the life you want?

Whatever future you see for yourself, an education from Northwest Technical College can help get you there.