The debate about the value of a college education is heating up.
Increasingly woke colleges have put political indoctrination ahead of practical education.
And Mike Rowe made one prediction that was the worst news possible for woke colleges.
Mike Rowe discusses a surprising new trend among younger Americans
How America Works host Mike Rowe appeared on the Fox News show One Nation with Brian Kilmeade to discuss a new trend with Generation Z to skip college in favor of the skilled trades.
He’s becoming the lead proponent in the country of encouraging younger Americans to consider a career in the blue-collar work that keeps the country running.
A recent Wall Street Journal piece revealed that enrollment in vocational education has been growing among younger Americans.
The piece pointed to data from the National Student Clearinghouse that enrollment in vocational programs at community colleges has increased by 22% while enrollment at four-year colleges has declined nationally since 2022.
Rowe said that he was optimistic about the news from the Journal article but wasn’t ready to declare victory yet.
He said that the skyrocketing cost of tuition is causing students to rethink the decision to attend four-year colleges.
“They’re seeing $94,000 a year at Tufts. They’re seeing all of the craziness . . . Brown and Dartmouth and Harvard,” Rowe said. “They’re seeing a $52 billion endowment at Harvard. They’re seeing all the craziness that’s constantly in the headlines.”
Tuition at many private colleges in the northeast is approaching $100,000 a year.
And across the country, many students are facing mortgage-sized student loan debt when they exit college.
“And they’re just saying, ‘Look, why do I want to start a career in a major I haven’t even declared yet and go that far into debt to pursue a job that probably doesn’t even exist when we got 10,000 other jobs over here . . . that don’t require a four-year degree?'” Rowe asked.
Artificial intelligence is poised to change the job market
The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to a new round of automation that could cause a major upheaval in the job market by replacing white-collar jobs done by humans.
Rowe pointed out that the conventional wisdom on which careers would be hurt by automation had flipped over the years.
“The automation thing, you know, it’s funny — not ‘ha-ha’ funny, but interesting that the idea that the robots are coming to displace all of these so-called blue-collar jobs that have been around for 15 years,” Rowe said. “Now it’s AI, and the target is more white-collar jobs.”
The skilled trades are facing a serious shortage of workers in trades like welding, construction, and plumbing.
Rowe said his foundation mikeroweWORKS is helping younger Americans pursue work in skilled work that can’t be outsourced or replaced with AI.
“Look, plumbers are not going to be outsourced,” Rowe explained. “Electricians, steam fitters, pipe fitters, the people my foundation tries to assist — they have a level of job security that the article in the Journal is referencing, and it’s a big deal, because those jobs have always been here for the last 20 years, as long as I’ve been doing this, they’ve been open, and it’s starting to tip where we’re literally turning a tanker around with regard to perceptions.”
Woke colleges are watching more younger Americans reject them to pursue a path in the skilled trades.
