Men are leading the way in skipping 4-year degree, raising more doubts about value of college

Record numbers of youth are skipping college and entering the workforce directly, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The trend comes as more Americans are questioning the value of a four-year college degree as opposed to learning a trade.

While the BLS interprets the trend as positive by combining overall employment statistics with university enrollment, the data show college enrollment has declined from a high of 67% of recent high school graduates in 1997 to just 61.4% in October 2023.  

The decline is sharpest amongst men.  

In 1997, 63.5% of men aged 16-24 who were recent high school graduates were enrolled in a college or university. Today that number is 57.6%.  

By contrast, in 1997, women aged 16-24 who were recent high school graduates accounted for 70.3% of college enrollment and 65.3% of enrollment today.   

The results comport with other research from independent economists.  

In 2022, a report by Pew Research found that “about 1 million fewer young men are in college but only 0.2 million fewer young women. As a result, men make up 44% of young college students today, down from 47% in 2011.” 

Notably, the trend towards directly entering the workforce from high school is often related to a good labor market. 

Labor force participation rates at 71.7% are high for the age group which recently graduated high school, but are much lower for high school dropouts (43.7%). 

The higher labor participation rates are fueled in part by near-record low unemployment among youngsters 16-19, who may also be helped by more available jobs due to lower labor force participation rates for those 55 and older. 

A report from the ECMC group in June 2023 found that recent high schoolers “believe hands-on and on-the-job learning will be essential elements of their future education and are looking for opportunities that will allow them to gain skills over a lifetime.”  

The report found that today’s youth are looking for educational opportunities that are specifically career focused, unlike traditional four-year colleges or universities, which emphasize general education.  

About 60% of those surveyed by ECMC also worried about how they would pay for college.  

The combination is leading many to question the value of today’s mainstream college or university education.  

While experts have agreed a university degree is still generally worthwhile, they fret over the rising cost of colleges and universities and say that learning a skill or a trade can be a good alternative.  

Trade school programs can be completed in as less than two years, and at much lower cost than traditional 4-year degrees, even as trades are facing a shortfall in available personnel.  

In the plumbing industry alone there is expected to be a shortage of 550,000 workers by 2027, according to Bloomberg.  

“For every five tradespeople who retire, two replace them. And it’s been that way for over a decade. I talk to people every day who are making close to $200,000 – plumbers, steamfitters, pipefitters, electricians,” Mike Rowe, the Dirty Jobs star and evangelist of blue collar work, told News Nation.