“As 2019 winds to a close, it’s time to reflect on the year’s biggest news in higher education. Here’s my top-10 list, dominated by several events involving college admissions.” …
I’m concerned about the trend in some political groups to denigrate the value of a college education. At the same time, studies show that a college education is associated with higher incomes. If we can’t figure out a way to reduce college costs and then resulted debt, I do fear that we’ll see lower enrollments to the detriment of our country.
Can’t say that I have ever seen that pov. But what I have seen is folks who criticize the concept of ‘college for all’. We need trades people. We need manufacturing workers. Society needs all kinds of workers who do not need a college education to have a happy and productive life.
btw: the US high school population is expected to peak in the next couple of years. We WILL see declining enrollments (and more college closures).
@ultimom was probably referring to https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/the-growing-partisan-divide-in-views-of-higher-education/ .
Skilled trades people do need post-secondary education in their trade, even though it may not be “college” as normally thought of in these forums. Manufacturing is no longer the “straight out of high school into a high paying career-track job” that past generations saw. And many other jobs have credential-crept their minimum qualifications to include college even though they do not actually require the general skills or major-specific skills learned in college on the job.
Also, the people who advocate skilled trades are often not the ones who want to send their own kids into those career directions.