@blaze626 I would agree that standard bachelor’s degrees and the like are not for everyone. The technical skills learned at a community college or vocational school, for instance, may very well be more appropriate for certain learners. At the same time, however, many vocational schools are overpriced and often fail to actually educate those who attend them. For this reason, community colleges have always seemed a superior option to me. When I was in high school, an acquaintance of mine who wanted to be an auto mechanic was deciding between a vocational school and a community college. His father—who is also an auto mechanic—insisted that he go to a community college so that he would be able to talk about more than just cars. He did that, and never regretted it.
I am not sure that people graduating from community colleges are actually more employable, though. During a recession, employers can afford to be pickier about who they hire because they have more applicants. Since employers tend to value education as an indicator of dedication and ability, a person with a bachelor’s in nursing is still more employable than a person with a nursing certificate. The problem is that too many people with higher degrees seem to think that certain jobs are below them. So while they might be employable, they won’t go where the jobs are in some cases.
It is true that someone leaving with a bachelor’s degree in English stands little to no chance of being employed as an electrician or a plumber. Yet the number of jobs like these that are available is highly variable. There are a lot of open positions where I live, but this is because I am in a college town where construction is still a booming industry and where most people are either students or advanced degree holders. Construction is virtually dead in my hometown, however, so the existing electricians and plumbers are more than enough to meet the remaining needs for their services there.
Regarding the social value of education, though, I am not sure that putting more people in college devalues education. Education is not a scarce resource insofar as the amount of education I get does not impinge on the amount of education you can get. Yes, some people get nothing out of it. That’s too bad for them, but I’m not convinced it’s too bad for me (and not just because I get paid to teach people who don’t care just as much as I get paid to teach people who do care). People who cared, paid attention, and did well in school still stand out from those who did not.
Note that I said “stand out,” not “rise to the top.” Then again, what counts as rising to the top may be relative to what one wants to get out of life.