TAMPA, Fla. — For generations of Americans, the “college for all” model shaped the country’s economy and culture.
If you make good grades, you’ll have a better chance of getting accepted to a good college, then get a good job, make good money and live a good life.
But along the way, Americans are facing challenges: massive student debt, unemployed college grads and political intolerance on campus.
So, is going to college still worth it in America?
“I think it’s overrated. I think trade school or just work experience is equivalent to going to college,” said one Tampa resident.
A growing number of Americans feel the same way. According to a recent Gallup Poll, in the past decade, the percentage of Americans who expressed confidence in higher education fell from 57% to 36%.
“The great thing about today is we have a choice,” said Mike Thompson, an education expert and CEO of Learner Mobile.
Learner Mobile trains employees without a college degree.
“We work a lot in the aviation industry, and it's interesting these commercial airline companies have started their own cadet academies," Thompson said. "When you graduate from high school, you can immediately go into these cadet academies, and you can start flying some pretty cool airplanes. Then, by the time you're in your early to mid-40s, you're flying 787 jets, and you're making half a million dollars a year, and you're going to retire as a multimillionaire. You used to have to go to college for that journey, and now you don’t.”
Then what about a college degree to land a job interview in certain fields? Do you still need one?
“Don't think so. And I think it's becoming eminently clear that there are a lot of pathways to success,” said Thompson.
That same Gallup Poll shows there’s also been a decline in undergraduate enrollment since 2011, which is resulting in 3 million fewer students on campus. Two-thirds of high school students think they will be just fine without a college degree.
