#trade-school-proposal

#trade-school-proposal

"This year's increase in undergraduate credential attainment isn't just about more completions-it's also about timing. More students are earning certificates and degrees earlier and that shift reflects how postsecondary pathways are changing and starting sooner than they once did."

"A cultural shift was needed on the job sites-not only in the minds of the workers, but also in the physical layout of a site. It may sound trivial, but placing two porta-potties at a build site instead of just one that everyone uses-measures like that are important for developing an inclusive culture."

I can honestly say that if I was 18 now, there is no way I would go to university only to leave with huge debts and poor job prospects. Instead, I would become an electrician or similar trade.

One of my favorite movies is Good Will Hunting. Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon) is a 20-year-old janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Although he works a blue-collar job, he is secretly a self-taught genius with an extraordinary gift for mathematics and an exceptional memory. One day, he anonymously solves a complex math problem left on a chalkboard by Professor Gerald Lambeau, astonishing the faculty.

Young people are "experiencing higher education differently, and that is shaping much of what parents are saying," said Lammers. "[Parents] are reacting to the questions their children are asking and trying to find the best way to help them navigate the next steps."

Job insecurity is real: More than half of American workers (54%) say insecurity about their job is causing significant stress at work, while more than a third (39%) say they worry they about losing their job due to changes in government policies, according to the American Psychological Association's 2025 Work in America survey. Layoffs are reportedly at an all-time high since 2009, along with the lowest hiring on record in the U.S.

While overall more people are choosing college, there are important shifts happening in where students are going and where they're not. Enrollment at private four-year colleges is down. Fewer people are enrolled in master's degree programs. But enrollment is up at four-year public universities and at community colleges. There, it's driven by students choosing short-term credentials tied to the workforce.