It is about options. As parents, you want to give your child options so they can go in the direction THEY want. It is a heck of a lot easier to have a medical degree and choose to be an electrician than the other way around (although by the time you have a medical degree, presumably the student is way past being a kid whose parents are directing him in that direction). It is a heck of a lot easier to go choose the career you want if you've finished highschool/college than otherwise. If you want to go off and make a living at Wal Mart, you've always got that option.