I knew there were a lot of dropouts, but 30 million?

[cookderosa]

"Of course, returning to school won’t help much if the sparkling new degrees and certifications don’t lead to better jobs, or help them hang onto the ones they already have. The graduates must fill a need"

I agree, and I think if you step back from the problem, and look at it from the other direction, you might be able to argue that too many people start college from the getgo, and that obviously those people who are earning a living are in jobs that don't require a degree (evidenced by the fact that they don't have a degree) which also proves that as a country, we don't necessarily need more people with college degrees walking around. Industry continues to ask for skills in specific tech or in blue-collar trades, but that doesn't seem to matter.

If you're a passionate self-trained cook with a dozen college credits and 20 years of restaurant experience, dropping $100k on a culinary degree isn't going to do anything for you- it will set you back significantly, and likely put you into debt that you'll never recover from. If I took that same person and said "look, if you'll change careers and become a plumber, in 3 years you'll be making $100k" then what? If you like cooking, or don't like plumbing, that's all there it to it. Giving that same guy a degree in International Business won't do anything for him if he stays put.

Sometimes you have to just get out of your lane, and I don't think everyone wants to do that. I know I didn't - so I have a degree in a field that checks a box, but my degree in social science didn't change my trajectory.