I have a 20 year old (21 in 2 days, god help me) son in college now, and one of his friends and our neighbor the same age dropped out and started welding school. As far as I know he loves it.

As a son of a blue collar mechanic, I am all for this; we need more tradespeople in the US, and I suspect he'll be well on his way to financial security at least as early if not earlier than my son (if he takes care of his finances).