He basically said that, if you're planning on working in a field that does not need a college degree, it's not "worth it" to go to college. In 4 years, you'll be making more money then someone graduating, and have no debt, and have savings.
It was "sacreligous" on his part because the school had a 99% college acceptance rate; but years later I bumped into an alumn from my class who went the contractor / no college route, and was doing well and very happy.
Edit:
> That's why all the smart people became home contractors
That's not a job for everyone, which is why college is also needed. I'd really hate being a home contractor, for many, many reasons. College was the right path for me, but I'm under no illusion that it's the right path for everyone.
> Those Americans can mostly get loans to pay for college, then pay off their loans using all the extra money they make now that they're an engineer.
The flaw in that kind of logic is:
1: Many people who enter college can't graduate, for many different reasons.
2: Many people who graduate are incapable of working in the field they studied for, again for many different reasons.
In my experience, I went to an expensive school that had a high dropout rate. A lot of the dropouts were people who either had poor study habits, or simply weren't able to understand the material. Unfortunately, everyone who took out loans and then dropped out still had to pay back the loans.