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There is an important difference between today and 1970, or 1940. </p>
<p>Today, a college degree is a de facto requirement for 95% of $50,00 salary and up (clerical, customer service, and middle-management) jobs. Entrepreneurs and sales people do not need a college degree, but just about every other job that pays north of $50,000 per year does require one.</p>
<p>This forces 18 year old adolescents and their parent advisors into a choice for 1) college, 2) learning a non-academic trade, or 3) starting their own business, 4) staying at home and mooching of the parents. Inasmuch as the trades of plumbing, electrical work, machining, construction, etc. are difficult to break into, starting a business is something that perhaps 5% of the population is drawn to, and many/most parents are unwilling to continue to support high school graduates, entering college is the normal choice — not becasue Jr. has any intellectual curiosity or desire to learn, but because there is no other viable choice for a person who wants to earn a good income. It is simply an expectation now inthe way that high school was 50 years ago. It is primarily a four to six year, extension of high school in order to meet future employment requirements.</p>
<p>The result of this is that the same intellectually/scholastically unmotivated high school students simply extend that experience 4-6 additional years on either the government’s dime, or their parents’.</p>