College costs, weak job outcomes fuel skepticism about four-year degrees

Article excerpt

Tuition has outpaced inflation for decades, and the traditional bargain of a university diploma is visibly cracking. Graduates struggle to find jobs that justify six figures in debt. Employers say degree holders lack practical skills, and families are doing the math differently now: a four-year residential university, once the default path to stability, increasingly looks like a luxury bet against uncertain odds. Trade schools, bootcamps, and credentialing programs are siphoning off students who used to have no alternatives. The question isn't whether college has value, networks, earning potential, and credentials still matter, but whether that value justifies the price for a median student in 2024. For many families, the calculation has simply flipped.