As always, the following blog constitutes a compendium of multiple media reports supplemented by my personal opinion, where indicated.
You’re 18 years old and a high school senior. Soon, you will be graduating. Soon, you will be entering the real world as, by many standards, an adult. Soon, you will be faced with making the biggest decision of your life to this point, a decision that will impact the rest of your life and likely those of your future spouse and children. That decision, folks, is whether to attend college or pursue some alternative such as the military, trade school or civil service.
Many of your friends are planning to attend prestigious universities. For those outstanding students who plan to seek a career in medicine, law, accounting, or some other occupation in which jobs will likely be available post graduation, college makes sense. Of course it is important to choose the right college. More on that below.
If you have been an average or below average student, college may not be the appropriate career path for you. You might be better off pursuing a career in a trade school, civil service or the military. In the interest of time and space for purposes of this blog I will limit my analysis to colleges and trade schools.
For thousands of years young men seeking to earn a living apprenticed to an experienced tradesman such as a tailor, shoemaker, blacksmith, or whatever. There was no such thing as college as we know it. Even lawyers did not train by attending law school. They apprenticed by”reading” the law under the supervision of an experienced lawyer.. For the most part colleges came into vogue in the last 100 years or so. For example, in 1900, only about 2% of adults had earned a college degree of any type compared to 39% in 2025.
In recent decades the conventional wisdom held that every graduating high school student should aspire to attend college. A college degree was viewed as the necessary gateway to success in life. Employers preferred to hire college graduates even for jobs where it was not really a necessary requirement. Even a degree in such vague areas such as liberal arts or humanities were perceived to have value.
Now, however, a four-year degree is no longer a guarantee of career success. As of September 2025 the unemployment rate for young college graduates was 9.7% (roughly equivalent to that of high school graduates in the same age group). Additionally, some 76% of employers have not increased entry-level hiring. Graduates with degrees such as humanities, journalism and middle eastern studies, among others, have had difficulty finding a suitable job. Many of them are either unemployed or underemployed as waitstaff or slicing meat in delis.
Concurrently, trade schools have become more popular as increasing numbers of students and parents have become cognizant of their benefits compared to college. Trade schools, also known as “technical schools” or “vocational college,” focus on specific careers that require specialized technical training, not a college degree . Normally, students earn an industry certification or license from a technical school or technical college in less time and for a lot less money compared to a four-year college degree.
According to recent studies published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and McKinsey & Company the demand for skilled tradesmen is growing considerably faster than average, and this trend is expected to continue or even accelerate by 2032.:Moreover, the demand for certain essential skilled jobs such as electricians and HVAC technicians is expected to grow 20 times faster than average by 2032. Furthermore, according to a recent story published in the Washington Post ABC chief economist Anirban Basu opined that although advances in AI will result in a reduced demand for people in some areas the trades will still require an actual person to perform the work.
You can find affordable options for both technical schools and four-year colleges. If you plan to pay for your education yourself, going to a technical school or community college can be much more affordable. If you can qualify for financial aid or scholarships to help with the costs of your college education, however, attending a four-year university could be more affordable.
Some advantages of trade schools include:
- Lower cost, approximately $4,000 to $20,000. .
- Quicker entry into the workforce (two years or less for certification compared to four years or more for a bachelor’s degree),
- Commence earning money sooner.
- Hands-on training for specific careers, such as plumbing, welding, HVAC technicians, dental hygienists, veterinary technicians, or paralegals. Earnings for these trades vary widely depending on experience and job location, but a reasonable estimated national average would be $25 -$35/hour, plus overtime. This is starting at the age of 18 or 20, not 25, 30 or older. Also, self employed tradesmen can make considerably more, and often “off the books.”
- Generally, trade school programs are designed to prepare you to pass professional exams and receive a license to work in your industry. They provide credentials that certify the student has mastered the essential elements of the field either by experience or passing a test.
- Practically speaking, some college degrees, while broadening the student’s mind, provide little or no useful benefit post graduation. More on this later.
- More streamlined admission process. The application process for college is arduous and frustrating. Typically, it takes several months. Competition among entrants is fierce, and often decisions to accept or reject an application are not based on logic. On the other hand, normally technical schools only require proof that you have graduated high school in which case one simply signs up and waits for the next available program.
- Through careful research one can find affordable options for both technical schools and four-year colleges. Colleges offer scholarships and loans, but generally, however, technical schools or community colleges are much more affordable. Be judicious with taking out loans. Too many graduates find themselves saddled with substantial loans, which can take several years to pay off. In 2024 overall student loan debt was estimated at $1.63 trillion.
- You can find affordable options for both technical schools and four-year colleges. If you plan to pay for your education yourself, going to a technical school or community college can be much more affordable.
- If you decide to attend college you don’t have to attend an expensive four-year college. Many of them cost up to $80,000 per year all-in, and it might take you more than four years to graduate. Consider attending a less expensive public college or a community college for two years. You can always transfer to a more prestigious college and graduate from it. The average cost of college tuition for four years varies from from $48,000 to $180,000 depending upon whether the school is a public (in-state vs. out-of-state) or a private institution. The all-in cost (including room, board, books, and supplies) is considerably higher ranging from $124,000 to an outrageous $262,000. As I said above, pretty steep. According to a recent article in the NY Post colleges are facing a serious enrollment crisis as increasing numbers of students are opting for the practicality of trade schools. The Western Interstate Commission for higher Education predicts that enrollment in the traditional four-year colleges will decline some 13% over the next 15 years. Concurrently, enrollment in trade schools is up some 20% since 2020.
- The average student loan debt for a bachelor’s degree holder in the U.S. is approximately $29,000 -$35,000, combining federal and private loans. Roughly half of all students graduate from four-year public universities with some debt, and those who pursue advanced graduate or professional degrees face significantly higher amounts. The amount of debt for a medical school graduate varies significantly depending on the specialty. The average is about $216,000, however, with respect to surgical specialties such as orthopedics or plastic surgery it can be as high as $600,000. Additionally, these specialists don’t even commence to earn real money until they are in their 30s. Then, they spend the better part of their career paying off the aforementioned loans.
CONCLUSION
Obviously, before making a commitment in time and money it is incumbent upon the student and his parents to do some research to ascertain the marketability of the knowledge and skills attendant to a particular degree. You don’t want to invest all that time and money only to find a “dead” or limited job market at the end of the day. For instance, you may love history or humanities and want to major in one of them, but at the end of the day is there a viable job market, or will you end up as a barista in Starbucks or selling insurance to make ends meet?
That is precisely the problem with many college graduates today. They invest all that time and money, and then find there are either no jobs or only low-wage jobs. Meanwhile, their “goofball” or poor student friends from high school are making good money as plumbers or hairdressers. Jealousy? Envy? Perhaps. Their attitude is “you don’t deserve all that you have. I’m smarter than you. I deserve some of that, and I want it.”
Then, they become disillusioned and disaffected. They made a poor choice at the age of 18, and rather than own up to it they choose to blame others or the system itself. They feel entitled to the good life, but they don’t have it and can’t see a way to attain it. I believe that it is out of frustration with the direction of their lives that some of these persons have joined the radical socialist movement that is gaining in popularity.
Based on the foregoing that old worn out cliche “college isn’t for everyone” is true.
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We Built It Blog by Larry Jacob 