Why Gen Z is Ditching College for the Trades
Generation X and Millennials largely agreed on the path to adulthood – graduate high school, attend college, rack up student debt and attempt to pay it off by slaving away at an office job. Increasingly, we’ve seen a different approach among Gen Z. One of the defining Gen Z traits is not settling for the […]
10 Good Reasons To Explore The Trades
The average cost of a trade education is around $33,000, while acquiring a bachelor’s degree has been pegged at $127,000. What’s more, in many cases a trade education can be had for free through formal and informal apprenticeship training programs. Around 40% of college students drop out before obtaining a degree, often wasting tens of […]
The Skilled Trades Are Surging
A front-page article in the April 2, 2024 edition of the Wall Street Journal addresses a point I’ve made repeatedly in this blog. It describes the growing attraction of trade careers to members of what’s become known as Generation Z, generally defined as those born between 1995 and 2012 – which I suspect includes many […]
College Gets More Thumbs Down
It skipped my attention for a while, but I recently became aware of a Gallup survey published last July that showed only a little more than a third of Americans expressed confidence in the value of a college education. As recently as 2015, 57% of Americans said they had “a great deal” or “quite a […]
College Costs Blow My Mind
Way back close to the Stone Age, I financed my own way through college. As a military veteran, I was assisted by a monthly stipend of $170 a month from the G.I. Bill, coupled with free tuition thanks to my veteran’s status at a state school. Even so, I was self-supporting and still had to […]
College Degrees Continue To Lose Their Luster
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal caught my attention. It described laws enacted in 10 states during the past year to do away with the requirement of a college degree for government jobs. Georgia, Florida, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, North Caroline, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah and Virginia now are able to fill state […]
College Continues To Lose Luster
A trend that has played out for more than a decade continued last year as the college enrollment rate for U.S. high school graduates fell to 62%, down from 66.2% in 2019 and well below the all-time high of 70.1% in 2009, according to data from the U.S. Labor Department. (Data has not yet been […]
20 Reasons To Explore The Trades
1. More than one in six skilled tradespeople end up owning their own business and another 20% become partners in a business. 2. 30% of small business owners have no more than a high school diploma. 3. Construction is the most popular profession for people who own their own businesses. 4. The average cost to […]
Employers Rethink Need For College Degrees
That was the headline of an article in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago that grabbed my attention. It is yet more evidence for a theme that I have hammered home in this blog, which is, college degrees have been devalued even while their cost has skyrocketed. Various studies have shown that more […]
College is Cool, But Have You Tried Avoiding Debt?
One of the biggest moments in a student’s life is when they graduate high school. This event kicks off the start of a new era, where opportunities are endless and you can choose your career path. Many students go through high school preparing for college, and many high schools and institutions intentionally prepare and lead […]