Trade Off

The education alternative:

A young man named Sy Kirby told NPR he knew a four-year degree was not the path he would take because of the cost. After being hired by a local water department in Arkansas at 19 years old, he learned skills that eventually helped him build his own construction company, the outlet reported Monday: Now at age 32, Kirby finds himself mentoring many of his employees, who also opted to learn a skilled trade rather than shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to pursue a degree that they wouldn’t use after graduating. … Kirby is among the growing number of young people who have chosen to swap college for vocational schools that offer paid, on-the-job training. In 2018, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-TN) wrote in an op-ed that going to a trade school was just as valuable as the path to higher education, according to Breitbart News. She “made the case that the way we discuss education in America is ‘classist’ in a column for the Wall Street Journal. By looking down upon those who attended trade schools and praising those with advanced degrees, we are suggesting that one is more valuable than the other,” the outlet said.

Snobbery doesn't pay the bills...