In the Duggar family, your siblings are also your classmates. Duggar mom Michelle homeschooled all 19 of her children, and as the older kids have graduated from the family's schooling program, they've all taken pretty different post-high school paths. And with the unmarried older siblings a bit more mysterious than others, fans are likely wondering: Did John-David Duggar go to college?
As it turns out, the answer is complicated. None of the 19 Duggar kids have graduated from a traditional college. However, a number of them have taken online courses for continuing education, including John-David, 28, according to an April 2011 post on the Duggar Family Blog, which is not run by the family. At the time of the blog post, both John-David and his twin sister Jana were in a "Life-Purpose program" called CollegePlus! (exclamation point included) as part of a company called Unbound.
A rep for the program reportedly confirmed their participation to the blog. In the program, students meet with coaches to sort out their future goals, eventually attend college debt-free (the Duggars are all about that debt-free lifestyle), seemingly with a focus on ministry, according to its website. John-David was reportedly uncertain about his goals at the time, while Jana was reportedly considering a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Whether or not John-David got something out of CollegePlus!, he eventually got himself on a focused career path. A few years later, John-David was in training to be a pilot, a fireman, and a police officer, according to a 2014 blog post by Michelle Duggar on TLC's website. (Although, Jinger's name is spelled "Ginger" in the post, so perhaps a ghostwriter was involved...)
By 2015, John-David was working as a constable in Washington County, Arkansas, according to a January 2015 post on the Duggars' Facebook page. He was also keeping busy with construction work and with his pilot's license. A few months later, TLC shared a YouTube video of John-David working as a constable. In the video, John-David was conducting a traffic patrol drive with a special guest — his father, Jim Bob.
It makes sense that none of the 19 Duggar kids have attended traditional college for several reasons. Firstly, being able to afford sending one kid to college is a feat in itself. But sending 19 kids to college, especially when a debt-free lifestyle is such a priority to your family, would be extremely difficult. Secondly, Michelle Duggar is more of a fan of apprentices and on-the-job training than she is of higher education. In the same blog post for TLC's website, Michelle explained:
It's endless the things that they can study and learn about, even though they've already graduated high school. They're doing their "college" things that they want to do, but a lot of them are getting paid for it. And that's what's great about on-the-job training. They're making money getting trained to do the things that they love.
As Michelle mentioned in the post, John-David is not the only kid to take courses after completing their GED. While Jana had previously considered getting her degree in nursing, she wound up studying midwifery, as did Jill. Additionally, Jinger studied photography, and Joseph trained at the fire department to learn about first aid and first responding. Furthermore, Joseph spent a year at Crown Bible College, a Christ-centered college in Powell, Tennessee, according to a Duggar family Facebook post in 2016. After returning home, he began doing construction work for the Duggar family business, and he planned to get his real estate license as well as his commercial driver license.
And, of course, all the older siblings keep plenty busy taking care of their younger siblings until they get married and move out. So while college is definitely not a priority in the Duggar household, it seems like John-David found a career path that works for him.
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