Many Gen Zers are trading college for trade school

May 1, 2024

The idea that a college education is necessary for success or a job that pays well is being challenged, according to an article in The Deseret News. For decades, there has been less focus on vocational trade education and blue collar jobs.

That paradigm is changing as more students and parents are seeing alternatives to college, says Robb Sommerfeld of the National Center for Craftsmanship in an interview with Axios. As a result, many members of Generation Z are choosing trade school over university as they reach adulthood.

NewsNation reports:

“Gen Z appears to be weighing the higher cost of college and the guaranteed return on investment in the trades and thousands of young people are skipping college, well aware they are following a generation deep in student loan debt,”

Although some of the trade professions can also be more dangerous than white collar work, they also tend to have some of the happiest workers. The Washington Post reports: “Agriculture, logging and forestry have the highest levels of self-reported happiness — and lowest levels of self-reported stress — of any major industry category.”

Young people who are looking for jobs that pay well and will be in demand well into the future are finding that learning a trade is a way to check both of those boxes.

Photo: top, Credit: Scott G. Winterton/Deseret News