Although this was almost two decades ago, that was not the advice we were given at my school. It was more along the lines of "what do you want to do? there are trade schools, community colleges, and state colleges depending on what motivates you".

Of course, very few parents didn't want their kids to go into higher education of some kind, and I think for about 99% of parents with college education, their children going to college was already a forgone conclusion for them.

I wouldn't put the blame entirely on the parents or the kids though- practically every school I've seen advertises job placement numbers; don't forget about the lawsuits over law schools artificially inflating their numbers to get more students. If you're a parent seeing that, why wouldn't you push your kid into college?

This is wildly dependent on where you grow up and in what group.

In my upper-middle-income family and peer group, not going to college was unthinkable. Debt wasn't really a consideration since few of our parents were struggling with debt and we based our future expectations on their past. Then it turned out the game had changed dramatically in 25 years.

I had a couple lower-middle/upper-lower income friends, for them college was much more of a goal than a given, but also one that they were very aware of costs/risks around. But not one that didn't seem worth the upside.

From what I've read of people growing up in poverty, it's very different there. Many people check out well before the end of high school, and college is seen as something for other people that's not a realistic option for most.

Sadly, this doesn't seem to be the case from my experience. In my city the best magnet elementary/middle schools are already asking kids where they want to go to college. The best high schools in my city have "college prep" at the end of their names for a reason.

Community college, especially in larger cities, definitely is underrated.

edit: redundent wording.

There's a vicious cycle to Community College that I don't think can be readily overcome. Essentially boiling down to network effects. It can't be overstated how much you gimp your career (and to a lesser extent life) by isolating yourself from top performers. From who you're eating lunch with, to the research presentations you can sit in on, to the companies that come in person to recruit; there are huge advantages to going to a top university that are tough to put a dollar amount to. Telling high performers "I guess you're too poor to benefit from these resources" seems to be counter productive (both to them and to the rest of society that could benefit from exposure to their ideas).

> Although this was almost two decades ago, that was not the advice we were given at my school. It was more along the lines of "what do you want to do? there are trade schools, community colleges, and state colleges depending on what motivates you".

So, uhhh... It sounds like you got exactly the experience you're claiming you didn't get, but are blind to the alternative: That more schooling (even a trade school) wasn't the only option.

Not for me, and I graduated in the early 2000s. While community college was highly suggested as a way to start, we didn't have any in the town I went to. College was very heavily pushed.

Going with your premise: Who are the authority figures young people are listening to?