High School Senior Faces $300,000 Decision: College Loans vs Military Earnings

Jaik Chadwick has a $300,000 decision to make. While he believes the military doesn’t pay much, joining the military could result in a big wealth advantage over four years compared to a pursuing a college degree.

Jaik Chadwick has just one school year before he’s released from the confines of the Lafayette Parish School System. He is in tune with what his peers have decided to do after high school and noted some are going to college, one of his friends is going into the military, and another is going to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He said his girlfriend is going to Ole Miss.

Despite all of that, however, Chadwick has no idea what he wants to do when his final year as a Southside High Shark concludes.

He entered his senior year at Southside High School Aug. 7, where he will play linebacker and safety for the Sharks football team. At 17, he had also celebrated his two-weekiversary of working at Super One Foods where he assists with curbside delivery grocery orders in Youngsville, Louisiana, making $11.50 an hour.

Jaik Chadwick, #44, works to loosen the grip a Notre Dame High School Pioneers football player has on the ball during a game at the new Southside High School stadium, The Reef, on Sept. 5, 2025, in Youngsville, Louisiana.

Chadwick has grown up in Louisiana with his mom, Jess, who owns a local gym and dad, Chad, a firefighter, and his younger brother Jaxon. He enjoys working out with weights, playing football, hanging out with friends, and watching UFC fights, “especially Charles Oliveira,” he said.

Chadwick sees his options as attending college or entering into military service after graduation. In his mind, however, the military doesn’t pay well and he doesn’t want to wind up in debt from school.

He said he is leaning more toward college because he feels there are more opportunities to make a good living. He said he would consider the military if he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, but he doesn’t have a specific interest in a military job or branch – a recruiter’s favorite type of candidate. Chadwick said, “the military is hard and you get tired,” while to him, college seems more laid-back.

Overall, Chadwick said he prefers the opportunities and independence he associates with college, but he is confident he could also handle the challenges of the military. “I could still do it,” he said

According to the National Center on Education Statistics, more than 3.4 million public high school students are slated to graduate in the 2025-2026 school year, about 42,000 or a little more than 1% of which come from Louisiana. So, what is the comparison for a student from the 1% percent of graduates in the U.S. to attend college versus to join the 1% of uniformed service members in the U.S.?

The Enormous Cost of College

While Chadwick had no specific major in mind, he told Military Wallet his favorite subject in school is history, particularly cowboys and the Old West.

His two main options would be to attend an in-state or out-of-state college.

If he were to attend Louisiana State University, a large, public research university in Baton Rouge, his first year as a Louisiana resident could cost him $12,472.  If he were to live on campus and add on the meal plan, he’d incur an additional $15,404.

Undergraduate Cost (instate) Year 1: $27,876

This amount does not include travel home to see his family, the cost of a new computer, meals outside of the meal plan, or any other expenses Chadwhick may incur over his first year out of his childhood home.

Each year, according to College Money Matters – a nonprofit organization helping students and their families make smarter decisions about paying for college – tuition costs could rise an estimated 7% each year. The same organization estimates that about 40% of students attending college take an additional year or two to graduate.

We’ll assume Chadwick graduates in four years, a 7% increase in tuition yearly, and one year of college room and board. For years two through four, we’ll assume off-campus living for nine months a year at $792 per month:

• Apartments.com says average rent in Baton Rouge is $1,034 per month. With a roommate, that’s $517 monthly.
• EducationData.org estimates a college student will spend $275 per month for groceries in Louisiana.

If Chadwick were to graduate after four years of attending college, he could leave LSU with student loan debt surmounting more than $70,000, assuming financing tuition costs and the first year of room and board.

The total costs including those not financed would add up to more than $90,000.

Student loans also come with interest rates. College Money Matters predicted that most students choose to pay back their loans over 10 years. The current federal student loan rate is 6.39% according to StudentAid.gov, totaling interest of $24,910 over a decade. That brings the grand total of attending college to $117,072.

One respite Chadwick has, however, is that his grandmother has mentioned she may pay his loans. “Grandma plans to pay off his loans if he graduates,” his mother, Jess, chimed in.

Most college students aren’t so lucky, so we’ll assume no family help with student loans after college for comparison purposes. Comparatively, the tuition for an out-of-state option, such as living with his grandmother in San Diego, California, would about triple the tuition cost, according to the University of San Diego’s undergraduate educational cost information.

Earnings and Benefits for Military Service

Another route Chadwick is aware of is military service. He has some familiarity with the U.S. Army because his girlfriend’s dad served. Additionally, he recalled a Coast Guard recruiter who visited the school and Chadwick remembered he told them, “You can learn life skills that you can’t learn anywhere else, like teamwork.”

With the option on the table, members of the Coast Guard as a service under the Department of Homeland Security still make the same at each rank of the five branches under the Department of Defense – Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force.

As an initial entry service member, Chadwick could make $2,144 per month if he chose to enlist as active duty. After four months, his pay would be increased to $2,319 until he is promoted to at least an E-2 in any branch of the military.

• Initial Entry E-1 Pay (Monthly) $2,144
• After 4 months E-1 Pay (Monthly) $2,319

According to an earlier post on Military Wallet, the White House’s budget proposal is calling for a 3.8% military pay raise for all servicemembers in 2026. That increase would have Chadwick receiving $2,226 per month in the first four months and $2,407 a month until he was promoted to at least E-2. He could also enter the service as high as an E-3 ranking if he works with his recruiter to complete certain trainings ahead of shipping out for his initial entry training.

Additional pay is allotted within each branch for special qualifications as well as basic allowance for housing, basic allowance for sustenance, hazard pay and sea pay. As a single service member with no immediate need to refuse barracks housing, Chadwick wouldn’t receive BAH until he was married or took on dependants, promoted beyond E-5 or was approved for an exception to policy to live off base. But he would get housing and food for free, a savings of nearly $37,000 compared to the college route.

Contracts in any branch of the military can be as short as a couple of years and as long as about six years. If Chadwick were to sign a contract for about as long as he would have planned to be in college, he could make about the same as it would have cost to attend college in his home state.

E-1 Salary over 4 years (not including promotions or special pay)

*Year 1 assumes 2025 E-1 base pay for 3 months with projected increases starting in January 2026. Years 2-4 assume a conservative 2% pay increase per year.

Additionally, service members earn certain benefits once they serve past four months. Those benefits include:

*Per ICanBuy data, VA loans offer a 0.6% rate discount vs conventional at the time of writing, equating to a $7,920 savings over 5 years on a $350,000 house. **Health care cost for 19-year-old per ValuePenguin.

Chadwick was certain on one thing when determining his future: if he were to come into any amount of money, he would try to invest it.

Through the military’s thrift savings program, Chadwick is automatically enrolled to contribute 5% of his basic pay into his TSP account every pay period, beginning with his first leave and earnings statement, or paycheck. Service members can choose how much to contribute, but should choose at least 5% of their basic pay each pay period, as their service will match up to 5%. At this rate, at the end of his four year enlistment, matching funds would add another $5,752 to the pot for Chadwick that he has saved for retirement.

Conservatively, we estimate total benefits are worth at least $83,528.

But that’s not where the benefits end for some military-bound high school grads. While not guaranteed, recruiters can offer full-time recruits bonuses they can combine to earn up to an additional $50,000 for enlisting in certain jobs. According to GoArmy.com, current jobs offering bonuses include 18X – Special Forces Candidate; 13U – Field Artillery Recruit; 12D – Diver; and 66G – Obgyn/Nurse.

For the sake of our comparison, we’ll assume Chadwick does not receive any special bonus.

Comparing College to the Military For High School Graduates

Looking at the first four years, joining the military is the clear winner from a financial perspective.

In all, four years of college, conservatively, Chadwick would end up with nearly $200,000 in earnings versus $117,000 in the hole for college.

While college can certainly put people in a place to earn top dollar later in life, it’s not guaranteed. And a $100,000 cost versus $200,000 gain is a $300,000 difference in wealth at the end of four years. That’s an incredibly large deficit to make up as you enter your career after college with little life experience and mounting student debt.

Like Chadwick, High School Grads Have a Big Decision to Make

Chadwick currently works Super One Foods only on weekends due to his football training schedule. He works approximately 14 hours per week, bringing home about $322 every two weeks before taxes.

He mentioned no plans of hoping to remain at Super One Foods.

There is no doubt that a college education can equip graduates with skills they need to chase after jobs they are passionate about or that earn them a high-paying salary.

In the same breath, veterans leave military service having gained a purpose – at least for the duration of their time in the service.

Both options have the potential to leave a person feeling a little lost after four years. The difference we’ve laid out here is that even if you’ve got a grandmother paying off your loans, the likelihood of leaving college with money in your pocket is low. Whereas, it is not likely that someone would leave military service between what they’ve earned and what they’ve invested without money in their pockets.

Chadwick faces a big decision as he determines the direction of the rest of his life. An unmotivated person may find military service difficult and there isn’t much good that comes from a dishonorable service record. However, landing a job in the job market after college isn’t always as easy as it is to walk into a recruiter’s office.

Hell, he could even go for the plot twist and join a college’s ROTC program and follow up his degree with a four-year commitment to the military and a higher paying salary than if he’d enlisted. But, that comparison is for another article.