It took only one semester at Fordham University for Allison Kopp to decide she was not cut out for college.

Kopp, who wanted to own a boutique, daydreamed her way through classes, bickered with a professor and dropped out. She packed her bags and, at 19, moved to Italy.

College "was tough," said Kopp, a Rumson, N.J., resident who is now 24. "It wasn't something I was so into. It (was hard) for me to sit there and concentrate. (Fordham) is a great school. It just wasn't my cup of tea at the time."

There is a clearly defined road to success in America that includes graduating from high school and college, preferably in short order, and then steamrolling into the workforce, where a high salary and self-sufficiency await.

But many students drift off course, creating tension with their parents, who no doubt worry whether their children will be self-sufficient. Experts say those students have plenty of room to find their own way — as long as they continue to learn after high school.

"If the kids aren't motivated (by school), then no amount of pressure from parents is going to make a difference," said Carl Van Horn, director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. "Sometimes, it's better to take a detour than run into a wall."

In 2005, only 51.8 percent of students nationwide earned a degree within five years of entering a four-year college. That was down from 54 percent in 1995, according to ACT Inc., an Iowa City, Iowa-based educational research company.

The statistics trouble business leaders. In 15 years, 84 percent of all jobs will require a college degree, making a high school diploma all but meaningless, said Dana Egreczky, vice president of workforce development at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

"This society has to push kids to understand that with the Internet, our companies never have to hire undereducated Americans," when they can hire qualified workers overseas, Egreczky said.

The established road to the workplace is no doubt the easiest. But not everyone at 18, 19 or 20 is ready to make that decision.

"We ask children from the time they are 3, 'What do you want to do when you grow up?' " said Kate Pandolpho, director of career employment and counseling services at Ocean County College in Toms River, N.J. "But there are so many career paths and ways to make money, it can be very confusing."

Despite her detour, Kopp reached her goal. She studied fashion overseas and opened Lia, a boutique in Sea Bright, in December with financial help from her parents.

Kopp said she never connected with the education system, preferring to learn through experiences than reading a textbook. A trip to Italy the winter after her first semester cemented the deal; she told her parents she wanted to go back to Europe.

Her parents balked at the idea and enrolled her in Monmouth University. But they eventually relented, deciding that she knew what she wanted better than they did. "I took a different path, and I feel like I am at my goal," Kopp said. "I opened my own boutique."