Why the Learn, Earn, Return Life Cycle Doesn’t Work

Does it have to be this way?

This is part of a weekly series I’ll be publishing each week during COVID-19.

A decade ago, I heard of the Learn, Earn, Return life cycle. The concept is simple and basically characterizes one’s life into 3 neat phases:

Learn. Most people will spend at least the first two decades of their life in formal schooling. For ~35% of the U.S. population, formal schooling includes a college degree or more, which takes you to about age 25 or so.