Jaded with education, more Americans are skipping college

I don't think "jaded" is the right word---it's like saying homelessness is increasing because people are jaded with habitation. The problem with college is the same as the problem with housing: the cost has climbed much more rapidly than wages. People on the margins fall out of the market as a result. Why does everyone act as though this is mystifying?

It&#x27;s interesting to compare this to the usual cycles in (other) financial markets. Products fall from favour, become under priced, get noticed for being under priced, become fashionable and prices rise, become over priced and we&#x27;re back at the beginning...<p>If other people are fleeing college (or convertible bonds or MBSs) then now is a good time to get in I imagine. Or it soon will be.

Most comments here are completely missing the point: remote learning during the pandemic era was worse than useless. As a result, the pandemic era created a HUGE bifurcation in the student population between autodidacts and non-autodidacts.<p>You can see this in high school test scores, in placement exams, in Freshman college performance, and even in new grad hire cohorts.<p>The autodidact set has realized that they can teach themselves a lot of what they would&#x27;ve learned in coursework at colleges. There are still some elite career pathways where formal education is necessary, but an autodidact who doesn&#x27;t want to follow one of those career pathways now <i>knows</i> that they can go without.<p>American colleges provide a useful-if-overpriced service to non-autodidacts, but their product is not ready to deal with students who are YEARS behind in their formal education.

A seemingly growing trend of anti-intellectualism and anti-education, probably can&#x27;t be good.

Good. The purpose of college in the US is not to educate but to create a market for student debt tied to non-dischargeable high interest federal loans, predatory pricing for books, materials, housing, etc, all for degrees with very little value in a job market being cannibalized by automation, outsourcing and AI. It&#x27;s a racket, and newer generations are only right not to participate.

Good for them. Saving money and exploring alternative career paths is a wise move for young people. Less indoctrination as well.

I for one am glad I went to University. I was exposed to topics and classes I would have laughed at earlier (philosophy, for one), met a lot of interesting friends, and had a really, really good time in general. In fact, I&#x27;d say that those years were some of the best in my life.<p>My only regret is that I didn&#x27;t go on any exchange program. Really should have done that.<p>I think that if you only view higher education as a ticket to a better paying job, and nothing more, college could suck. But that&#x27;s also under the assumption that you actively avoid social activities, and only go there to get your degree.<p>I really miss the youthful naïveté - all my peers were really motivated to do things.

Biden needs to move faster and not just with the debt jubilee but drastically change how much unnecessary cash American universities spend on bullshit. Visiting campuses in other parts of the world, I am always shocked how much they do with so little while keeping education relatively free.