Some, yes. But if the implication is that no one should go to college unless they’re prepared to finish a Bachelor’s degree, I disagree. I can’t immediately place my hands on the figures, but data I’ve seen say people with “some college” have, on average, higher lifetime earnings than those who never attended college. Lifetime earnings aren’t everything, of course, but if you’re on the bottom rung of the economic ladder, even a small boost in earnings can be life-changing.
Also keep in mind that many who “start college” have no intention of getting a Bachelor’s degree. Many are enrolled in 2-year Associate’s degree programs or even shorter certificate programs in technical/vocational fields. Our local community college, for example, offers Associate’s degrees and/or certificates in fields like medical lab technician, respiratory therapist, home health aide/nurse’s assistant, practical nursing, pharmacy technician, and food service management, not to mention more traditionally “blue collar” trades like plumbing, welding, sheet metal/HVAC, carpentry, cabinetmaking, electrical technology (electrician), auto body repair, automotive service, machine tool technology, machine operator, and on and on. It’s all well and good to say some people shouldn’t pursue Bachelor’s degrees because they’d be better off as welders or plumbers, but it’s practically impossible to get hired as a welder or a plumber without welding or plumbing experience. Where do you get that experience? Well, traditionally in an apprenticeship program, but increasingly in our area, people are going to community colleges to get some hands-on training and experience. In “hot” fields like welding, you may not even need to complete the certificate program; if you take a few classes, do well, show an aptitude for it, and can get your instructors to give you good references, that may be enough to land you your first full-time welding job.
That explains an awful lot of the “started college but didn’t finish a Bachelor’s degree in six years” phenomenon. Of course a lot of people “started college” during the recession by going to a community college to re-tool by acquiring marketable job skills. Are we to judge these people failures because they didn’t successfully complete Bachelor’s degrees? Heck no. Many of them were never in Bachelor’s degree programs, nor were they doing 2 years at the community college in order to transfer to a Bachelor’s degree-granting institution. They were “in college” to gain practical job skills. Many succeeded. I say, bully for them!