When colleges are charging ludicrous prices for degrees in welding and manicures/pedicures, you bet students are not attending.
If colleges want to survive, they need to get back to the basics of educating, not training.
Although most young Americans believe in the value of higher education, many still consider a high school diploma alone to be enough for success, according to a survey of teens and young adults by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The findings alarm some experts who say young Americans don’t seem to be getting the message that college pays off. Federal labor data shows a wide earnings gap between Americans who do and do not have a college degree, and unemployment rates are far lower for those with a bachelor’s or master’s degree.
More than half of Americans ages 13 through 29 do see college as a path to economic success, but about 4 in 10 believe a bachelor’s degree prepares people only somewhat well, or even poorly, for today’s economy.
Meanwhile, about half said their high school education has provided the skills they need to get a good job right after they graduate. And 45 percent say a high school diploma is good preparation for future successful workers.
Researchers disputed that notion, saying it has been decades since a high school diploma was enough to earn a good living.
“With a high school diploma alone, it’s very hard to earn the kinds of wages one would need to support a family,” said Thomas Brock, director of the Community College Research Center at Columbia University. “There’s just such a strong association between employment rates, as well as earnings, and education.”
https://www.kimt.com/content/news/AP-NORC-poll-Many-youths-say-high-school-diploma-is-enough-564759512.html