Mike Rowe Explains Why College No Longer Appeals to Younger Generations
By Movieguide® Contributor
Mike Rowe, a major advocate for trade schools, explained why the younger generation is forgoing college for other opportunities.
“I’ve been hearing a lot lately, ‘Why aren’t people having kids? What the heck’s going on?’ And I’m probably the wrong one to ask since I don’t have any, but man, I get it,” Rowe told Fox News. “You start looking at the numbers, like, what actually happened?”
“You have kids 40 years ago, where do you send your kids? To public school. Which one? The closest one. What’s it cost? It doesn’t cost anything, you know. You need a babysitter? There’s a girl down the street, she’s great. Five bucks an hour, maybe. College? There’s a great community college down the street, costs haven’t gone bananas yet,” he continued.
“If just feels like on every single front, people have sat down and gone, ‘I dare you. I dare you to raise a family…’ I do believe it’s gonna go splat. I do believe it’s gonna tip,” Rowe added. “And I think you can see it in credentialing in higher education right now.”
As the country has embraced the idea of college for all, the standards have slipped while the costs have skyrocketed. College has become a for-profit business rather than an institution focused on education.
With college debt following people for the rest of their lives, the younger generation is looking at that and deciding the cost is not worth the payoff.
“I believe that we’re seeing a giant reckoning through the lens of PR, where parents are going to look at the cost of a four-year degree, they’re going to look at places like Harvard…” Rowe said. “The inflation is not limited to our economy. There’s a credential inflation, there’s a grade inflation; there’s a legacy inflation problem over there.”
“There’s $51 billion in an endowment fund. We all just had a front-row seat to the Harvard corporation working real hard to protect their president in the face of 50 plagiarism charges,” he continued. “So you can’t blame a parent for looking at all of that and going, ‘Yeah, maybe not that.’”
To help people find different paths outside of college, Rowe’s foundation provides scholarships for those looking to get accredited in trade jobs like plumbing or carpentering. His organization gives out millions in scholarships a year to help promote these more sustainable paths in life.
“We’re on a mission to help close the skills gap by challenging the stigmas and stereotypes that discourage people from pursuing the millions of available jobs. We’re redefining the definition of a good education and a good job, because we don’t think a four-year degree is the best path for the most people. We want people to understand the impact of skilled labor on their lives, and we’re convinced that the solution has to start with a new appreciation for hard work,” the foundation states.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Mike Rowe blasts how expensive college has gotten, and wants Americans to see value in trade and vocational schools.
“[College is] more expensive than it’s ever been, but it’s also more expensive than health care. It’s more expensive than real estate. It’s more expensive than energy,” Rowe said. “Never in the history of Western civilization has a thing become more exponentially expansive faster than the cost of a four-year degree. That’s fact. If that doesn’t make you angry, then I don’t know what [will]. It’s bananas.”
As the cost of four-year universities continues to rise, Rowe believes that college is no longer worth the price.
According to a report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, the cost of college and university programs have surged 169% since 1980. Meanwhile, the cost of vocational schools and trade programs have remained a fraction of the cost, despite both routes leading to jobs with comparable salaries.
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