There are better, middle-of-the-road alternatives, such as Trade Schools and Adult Education.<p>Trade Schools ditch the concept of a 4 year degree for a more affordable, focused alternative, but which doesn&#x27;t entirely ditch the concept of an education (still requires high school, still puts you through basic requisite courses).<p>Because of the reduced time frame, they are also better matches for on-the-job training, meaning, lets say you decide you want to be an X, well, get hired by a company that does X, and have them directly subsidize your Trade School (you can get scholarships, but that&#x27;s beside the point). You get a re-usable education, the employer gets a trained employee. If you decide your employer sucks, save a bit of money, and go another 2-3 years for a full fledged degree. Now you have work experience, and a completely re-usable degree.<p>This goes hand in hand with the second concept, Adult Education. Lets say, everyone gets hired to work at age 16, only they get on-the-job training in the form of an Apprenticeship. Require employers (by law, potentially subsidized by the state) to provide you with an education, as a part of your training. Don&#x27;t just limit it to 16-21 year old&#x27;s, though - education should be something available to everyone - no matter your age. Notice that this sounds a lot like the previous paragraph - that&#x27;s because it is basically the same thing. Some companies do provide on the job training, but apprenticeships are rare, and so are Trade School&#x2F;employer combos.<p>We should be combining the two.