Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Rethinking 'College for All'

Not All Students Go to College. We Need to Make That OK.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/opinion/college-technical-vocational-education.html
 
Why Some Schools Are Rethinking ‘College for All’
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/us/college-for-all-kipp-international-baccalaureate.html
The idea that every student should aim for a four-year college has long motivated a bipartisan movement. Now even enthusiastic promoters are reconsidering.

The High-School Juniors With $70,000-a-Year Job Offers
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/skilled-trades-high-school-recruitment-fd9f8257
Companies with shortages of skilled workers look to shop class to recruit future hires; ‘like I’m an athlete getting all this attention from all these pro teams’.

The Schools Reviving Shop Class Offer a Hedge Against the AI Future
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/high-school-shop-class-revival-24d7a525
Hands-on skills are staging a comeback at leading-edge districts, driven by high college costs and demand for more career choices.
 
How Gen Z Is Becoming the Toolbelt Generation
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/gen-z-trades-jobs-plumbing-welding-a76b5e43
More young workers are going into trades as disenchantment with the college track continues, and rising pay and new technologies shine up plumbing and electrical jobs. 

 
From 2022:
Is the US higher education bubble about to burst? By Vivekanand Jayakumar, 01/24/22
https://thehill.com/opinion/education/590971-will-the-us-higher-education-bubble-finally-burst/
First and foremost, it is necessary to offer high school graduates multiple pathways to attain a well-paying career. Given that the U.S. economy is suffering from a significant and long-term skills mismatch and facing a massive shortage of truck drivers, welders, electricians, construction workers and a whole slew of various other skilled tradespeople, it is necessary to encourage more entrants into these fields.