The State of American Trade Schools
I remember in middle school and high school we were told in no uncertain terms that we should all get 4 year college degrees because they gave the highest lifetime earnings.  My high school was lucky enough to have an auto shop in it with a teacher that had been a mechanic&#x2F;shop owner for years.  He told us some good stories and also told us about how much money he made in the industry.<p>I didn&#x27;t think about it much then because I was dead set on getting an engineering degree, but I&#x27;ve had this feeling about 4 year colleges for a while now.  I saw so many people at my state college (~30,000 enrollment) that had absolutely no idea what they wanted to do, lacked the skills to be effective in college, or were in a degree program that had no job opportunities.  I saw many of them drop out after 1-2 years, but also saw ones that remained and got their degree.  Now they are tens of thousands of dollars in debt with nothing to show for it, and the people who did graduate are in more debt with no good job prospects.  It feels like we were lied to about college by all the adults in our lives.