- According to the National Center for Education Studies, US degree granting post-secondary institutions had combined revenue during the 2018-2019 school year of 672 billion dollars. In comparison, according to research firm IBISWorld, in 2020 total revenue for professional (non-degree) Trade and Technical Schools was approximately 13 billion dollars.

- Although roughly 70% percent of high school students continue on to college, the graduation rate is 46% (Hanson, Melanie. “College Graduation Statistics” EducationData.org, August 9, 2021,

https://educationdata.org/number-of-college-graduates).

So, at a high level, we are spending 98 percent of our education dollars to graduate about one third of our children. We shouldn't be surprised that the house of cards is collapsing under its own bloated weight.

Perhaps if we spent more time, energy and dollars on students for whom conventional higher education has limited value and applicability things would become more sustainable in an organic way.

Our elite obsession with the the state of higher education while ignoring those students for whom college isn't a good fit has social, economic, and political implications that should be self-evident by now. Furthermore, suggesting that the solution is to find a way to get more of them into college is arrogance supreme. We pay lip service to the problem by saying "college isn't for everyone". But truthfully...

COLLEGE ISN"T FOR EVERYONE!

So why do we act as if it should be.

It's time for a new paradigm. One that honors and supports all learners whether they strive to be an engineer working on the next iteration of tools for artificial intelligence based medical research or a someone wanting to be a master plumber. They both have lives to live, families to love and a lifetime of contributing to society.