We are past the huge boom in young people that occurred in the 1960s to 1970s, the education draft deferment which led to numerous students attending college – which in turn eventually led to the thought that everyone needed a college degree. That was great for filtering out the huge number of job applicants when labor was plentiful.
Today, labor is scarcer, and the value of a $90,000/year private university education is not penciling out – particularly when demand is shifting towards a need for skilled blue-collar workers who make and fix real stuff, rather than type on keyboards. Half of today’s college grads say they work in jobs that do not require a college degree.
Why spend $300-$400K on a college education when a community college training program or industry apprenticeship can lead to jobs paying $100k/year shortly after graduation?
