Speaking as a parent of kids who are headed towards being college age, you can imagine that I've got mixed thoughts about college education. It's going to be expensive. An outcome is not guaranteed. There are a lot of problems with higher education.

On the other hand, there's an anti-college "movement" that itself could just be a fad, or even fueled by a political "wing" that has always relentlessly attacked public education and higher education. The skill area that's often mentioned as accommodating of people with alternative training (Internet programming) may very well be a major bubble right now.

Edit: Removed gratuitous snark.

So while I'm willing to give lip service to experiments in alternative education for 18-22 year olds, I'll probably hedge my bets and advise my own kids to attend college while offering them a dose of realism about what they're getting into.