Here are notable trends captured by the 2024 survey results:
Interest in two -or four- year college continues to decline, while nondegree education paths are gaining traction. Less than half (45%) of teens in 2024 see two- or four-year college as their most likely next step, down from 73% in 2018. Meanwhile, teens considering vocational schools, apprenticeships, and technical bootcamp programs more than tripled from 12% in 2018 to 38% in 2024.
No surprise that parental influence is strongest. In addition to frequent contact, parent money also affects what options beyond high school the student has.
It would be interesting to see how parent demographics affects what they approve / disapprove of what their kids do after high school. For example, how does it differ between parents who:
Have BA/BS degrees or higher, and
Work in BA/BS jobs.
Work in non-BA/BS jobs.
Unemployed.
Do not have BA/BS degrees, and
Work in middle/higher income career jobs.
Work in lower income or unstable jobs.
Unemployed.
Parent influence could mean that some students are pushed into paths that are not their optimal ones, or discouraged from paths that are their optimal ones.
I had heard about this trend before, so in that sense I am not surprised.
I also think in general, it is a good thing. The idea that going straight to a four-year college after HS is the right choice for every kid who has the means and ability to do so is not well-grounded. Obviously it works for some kids, but I think for many, trying alternative paths makes sense.
And it isn’t a permanent decision, people will sometimes go to college later. But some never need it, and others go to college with a very specific degree in mind they need to take the next step in their career plan.
Which can be much better for some than feeling pressured to go to college right away, even though they don’t yet really have a clear sense of what they want out of college.
I’m not really surprised. Not sure if it was different for my generation (GenX) in the US, but it wasn’t a given that everyone went to earn a college degree where i grew up/graduated. We had/have what was (I think) equivalent to the old UK polytechnics back then, somewhere in the middle between vocational school and university, and a significant number of high school graduates went to those - more focused on advanced job training (so they would have things like accounting and engineering and and dental assistants and design, but not humanities or social sciences.) I think this idea that “everyone needs a university degree” is overrated, and I almost cringe when I see things like college degree required for an admin assistant role. Really, why, other than a lazy way to screen applicants?
I heard this was occurring, and have seen real life cases where the switch occurred, but didn’t know just how big the trend was. Wow, that’s a huge change in a short period of time.
U.S. Confidence in Higher Education Now Closely Divided shows a similar rapid change among US adults. To the extent that some of them are parents influencing their high school students, it is not surprising that these changes are trending similarly.
Further discussion along these lines probably needs a thread in the political forum section.
Given the increase in technology degrees, perhaps this is along that same trend - people want work ready, money making skills.
Every time I get my house bug sprayed, lawn mowed, I see the pool being cleaned, the lawn mowed, etc. - yep, people are doing these things…and yes, electrical work, irrigation, and more.
So I see it at the colleges…and it makes sense it would transition in society out of college too.
Electrician and other skilled trades probably need more knowledge and skill than they did a generation ago, with needing to know newer codes for new installs and how things were done in the past in order to do repair jobs on old stuff.
Our town has a program to help HS students obtain apprenticeships with the trade unions. The program has been rapidly growing so I’m not surprised to read this study.
My grandchild, who was a National Merit Finalist and studied calculus before high school, is starting an Electrical Technology program at our local community college next week. Both parents have PhDs and have been college professors.
Almost every contractor/skilled tradesman we’ve worked with over the last decade has lamented how few young people are entering their trade. These folks almost always have more work than they have time for, and they are decently paid. Most seem to genuinely enjoy their work as well.
With college costs being so high and employers being quick to lay off workers as their needs and circumstances change, the appeal of this non-college path isn’t surprising.
From an article posted on the jobs for grads thread, pertinent to this
More Americans have gone to college, so it’s less of a differentiator.
Over 40% of employed Americans have at least a bachelor’s degree (it was 24% in 1992). That’s about 30M more people competing for college grad jobs. And while the number of jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree has also increased, when more people go to college, that means college on its own is a weaker signal of job market preparedness, relative to other candidates.
That seems to align with some postings like this and this around these forums suggesting that only prestigious colleges avoid employers “not knowing whether … a college graduate can write a grammatical, three paragraph summary of a longer non-technical work.” I.e. many employers do not see a college degree from a non-prestigious college that is not in a major that is important or essential preparation for an in-demand job category (like nursing, civil engineering, etc.) to be of value, or only of value indicating a slightly higher skill level than high school graduation.
Yep. I’m not sure it needs to be a “prestigious” institution necessarily but out of the approx 2600 4-year colleges in the US (google), there are probably - what? - a few hundred that have decent enough name recognition that employers will trust, at least on a national basis - I’m sure locally and regionally more schools will be recognized as they will be more familiar with those graduates.
I just had a lovely conversation with the HVAC service tech who was here to do our annual service. I asked him how he decided what he wanted to do and where to go to school. He said he went into HVAC trade school and his brother did so in welding. They both attended the same school, which he said he selected b/c it was close to their home. His was an 11 month program. He said the cost ranged from $15-26K (with books, toolkits, etc). and he currently makes about $25/hr (my charge today for his 1.5 hr visit by his employer was $158). While certainly there are jobs where people can make $25/hr without needing certification, he is happy with his career choice, feels he is currently making an ok income. He is also only about 21 yrs old.
We also dined the other night with friends whose children took different career paths. One has a significant reading disability, so went to a trade school and works as an auto mechanic at a Jaguar dealership. Their other child started at a state school, transferred to the very desired tech school, got a degree in CS after an internship and is doing…. nothing (except currently traveling). Not sure what their long term career plans might be, but they have not used their degree since their graduation a few years ago. Doesn’t seem that they plan to use their 4 year degree, at least not anytime soon (and not since earning it— they didn’t look for work after graduation). IMO it is important to explore alternatives to 4 year college degrees.
Does the reading disability affect ability to read the often detailed instructions in service manuals and service bulletins that auto mechanics often need to read when doing a complex job?
Apparently not or they wouldn’t have hired her (and she wouldn’t have made it through her program).
All they shared is that their child saved up the $ earned from an internship (an internship that a family friend arranged for them) and that they are staying at youth hostels so it isn’t expensive. The rest is none of any of our business, IMO, so I did not ask.
I’m hoping to see a friend tomorrow. Two very different kids they have. One is a mechanical/electrical engineer. The other is an auto mechanic. Both love their jobs, and clearly they are very different paths to the adult working world. Parents were very supportive of both of these paths.
