The College Fix's Matt Lamb says his outlet has seen more stories in the past year about students being able to succeed without needing a four-year degree.
"There was a story about a furniture factory near Cedar Rapids, Iowa that was hiring high school students because about 10% of their workforce is nearing retirement or is retiring," Lamb relays. "Due to this factory and other companies really ramping up their hiring of young adults, the University of Northern Iowa also appears to be experiencing a long-term enrollment drop."
Research has also found that about half of college graduates (52%) go on to work in jobs that do not require a degree. In other words, most graduates' degrees are not paying off for them.
"This highlights that young adults [and] their parents need to be thoughtful about the degree that they pursue and the money they pay for it," Lamb submits.
He suggests that young adults who may not know exactly what they want to study, for example, may find their niche in the workforce.
"They may find that their company will pay for them to go through school," Lamb adds. "If they're working at a factory, they may find that after six months or a year, their employer might be interested in having them get some training on supply chain management or bookkeeping or some other skill."
Meanwhile, states across the country continue to drop their degree requirements for some job openings. As Utah, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maryland have reconsidered the necessity of college degrees for some job openings in the past several years, Delaware announced its changes in January of this year.
Lamb concludes that when anyone thinks through what they want from their career and what it takes to get there, that is a "positive development."
