Regarding schools you have both the university of Iowa and Iowa state. I feel like those are both good schools, I had a family member go to Iowa state's PHD pro

Regarding schools you have both the university of Iowa and Iowa state. I feel like those are both good schools, I had a family member go to Iowa state's PHD program and it was one of their top choices(for their profession). As for letting children(teenagers in this case) work earlier(and longer) I feel conflicted. In some sense the mantra that has been pushed on the past 2-3 generations has been everyone has to get a college degree or you will be considered a failure to society. That statement has been categorically wrong and has lead to a glut of people with college degrees and mountains of student loan debt from an imbalance in the workforce of too many college educated workers. The reality is the economy needs blue collar jobs and some do pay very well. Also some people are not cut out for college and pushing them into a institution they do not want to attend is bad for both the college and the individual. I feel like Germany has this problem figured out well with solid paths to high paying blue collar professions via apprenticeships and such. I wish the US had something similar and Obama's push for community colleges was a step in the right direction. Getting teenagers into blue collar apprenticeships gives them a head start in their careers and they still need parental approval for starting these jobs. That being said there is also a trap that having a 14-16 year make pretty good money in high school (via trades or apprenticeships) can dissuade them from ever getting into college, which they may excel at but never go that route due to financial loss of lost wages by attending college(and not working). Unsure what the solution is here but could see this change of law being abused by some and helpful for others(those who are headed for a blue collar profession).