Certain fields require a college education (medical, law, engineering, accounting / finance, nursing, etc.). It really depends on what you want to do. A major component to that is you likely don’t know what you want to do (as studies show that changes several times over the course of a life). Perhaps the biggest advantage of a college education is it keeps many doors open along the way. Another way of saying that is not having a college degree will close many doors!
I have two kids, very different. One is a business major at a prestigious university and will likely track to a great job in accounting or consulting and go from there. He’s a future business leader and would not be able to get there (unless he invented something like Facebook - very rare!) without college and, most likely, grad school.
My other is a performing artist who wants to make it on Broadway. She would like to pursue a BFA (fine arts) degree but clearly understands that directors don’t care where or if she attends. In her world, everything’s about the audition. However, a great BFA program will provide excellent training with other excellent actors to improve and refine her skills. Almost like a trade school. She has told me many times that if she doesn’t get accepted to an “audition in” BFA program, then she won’t go to college and just move to NYC and audition full time. I kind of like the idea of a “Plan B” just in case.
Trade schools are great if you really are interested in the trade. Many of them will help you obtain a good job in that trade.
If all of this is very fuzzy, consider taking classes at a community college. Fairly inexpensive way to explore certain topics to gauge your interest. Would dramatically lower the overall cost of a 4 yr degree. I think more kids should do this if they are searching for that passion.
What you don’t want to do is spend a ton of money on college, graduate (regardless of major), and still not know what you want to do. I have some relatives in that situation. Yes, they got educated (that’s a good thing) but they have menial jobs that don’t require a degree and no path to a different situation. Several years out of college, you could say that they wasted time and money. Some of that has to do with not being forced to support themselves as their parents have kept them on the payroll.