College enrollment tanks as many teens opt for trade school or an early career: 'Why do I want to put in all the money to get a piece of paper?'

The Blaze ^ | March 12, 2023 | By Cortney Weil

[NohSpinZone]

The effects of the COVID-related government shutdowns three years ago continue to reverberate. A new report from the Associated Press indicates that many American teens have become disillusioned with college and have opted to skip it in favor of going to trade school or working a job that does not require an undergraduate degree.

Between 2019 and 2022, college enrollment in the U.S. fell 8%, and the decline in college enrollment since 2018 has been the steepest on record, the AP claimed. Though enrollment increased slightly from 2021 to 2022 after most schools returned to in-person classes, the numbers have begun to alarm some lawmakers, college administrators, and researchers. by TaboolaPromoted Links You May Like Average Retirement Savings By Age: Are You Normal? SmartAsset WATCH: Dave Rubin is left SPEECHLESS after Tucker Carlson admits THIS Gronk's Favorite "Dressy" Shoes Feel Like Walking On Clouds Wolf & Shepherd Greg Gutfeld destroys Bill Maher with powerful response for hoping David Koch's death 'was painful' Chrome Users? Don’t Forget To Do This Before Monday guard.io

"It’s quite a dangerous proposition for the strength of our national economy," said Zack Mabel, a researcher at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.

[ridesthemiles]

EVEN plumbers & electricians need MATH-—

They will be sorely disappointed when they find that out.

[ridesthemiles]

NONE of them have EVER shoveled out a dairy barn in the winter

[elpadre]

Higher education has become too expensive, too political and too woke. Only those with wealthy parents, offered athletic scholarships or get free rides by a myriad of agencies due to their sexuality or ideological activism want to attend.

And engineering schools have to deal with lazy students and students who are allergic to study.

Is it true that some universities offer degrees in “activism” for those who want to be professional protestors??

[Little Bill]

My Grand Daughter is a 4th year Apprentice Plumber and she was required to take calculus as a Senior in Vocational School. She got an A and Graduated first in he class.

[Rummyfan]

College enrollment tanks as many teens opt for trade school or an early career: 'Why do I want to put in all the money to get a piece of paper?'

Well, you could attend college for the age-old reasons: to drink beer, go to football and basketball games, and get laid. Of course if that results in a gender studies degree with a mountain of debt it's not worth it.

My nice graduated last year from an out-of-state university with a degree in political science. She got a decent job (for that major) but has had to get a second job waitressing on the weekends to pay her student loan. So what the heck?

[Salman]

Sounds terrible to me, but under current conditions it is the best deal to avoid college, at least in the USA.

What we used to call real well rounded college education is not available at any price. You can get some of it working on your own, but only some.

[wjcsux]

How will an electrician, HVAC tech, plumber or welder know the correct pronouns to use if he doesn’t go to college?

[CPT Clay]

Bump

[Little Bill]

Ever been on a Construction Site?

[Little Bill]

Ever been on a Construction

[WASCWatch]

Unless you intend to get a degree in a technical field or business, learning a trade is a great option.

Learn a trade and you can eventually start a business for yourself and make a great deal of money. Take some business and basic accounting classes, and hire 4-5 others. That could turn into a 150-200k net income business

[Bob434]

[[parents these days are doing their kids a great disservice by not teaching them that manual labor is part of life.]]

They sure are- Sad really- kids dont even want to go outside hardly anymore- we grew up being outside till long after dark (We had chores to do- then got to play- We’d go to dinner, then back outdoors till after dark - always had adventures to do lol)

[kearnyirish2]

I disagree; companies hire foreigners even when there is no shortage of Americans doing the work - they just drive salaries lower. What happened in tech has spread to the financial sector; foreigners are trafficked here for lower wages/7-day workweeks - and that is only done if the work can’t be sent over there.

There is too much risk for some demographics today to even bother investing the time and money in a college degree; the awarding of unearned degrees to some other demographics has really de-valued them.

[kearnyirish2]

I believe more and more employers who traditionally used college degrees as a filter have come to understand that many are given out without any merit - and the recipients of those can fight in court for equal pay with others who actually earned their degrees. As companies get leaner, they will focus more and more on what you can actually do - not the paper involved.