My roommate is graduating this spring with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He is going on to work at one of the most prestigious investment banks in the country. Yet he says the knowledge and skills he gained in college are “not at all necessary” for the work he’ll be doing in banking. To him, his degree is nothing more than a fancy credential — one that has cost his family nearly $300,000 in tuition.
He’s not alone. You don’t need four years of liberal arts education to do the work that is being done in banking, to pursue marketing, work in real estate or manage a business. However, a four-year college degree is often a required credential to get hired for stable, rewarding job opportunities. This reality can be frustrating for many Americans who face the ever-rising cost of higher education.
Today, for many fields outside of STEM and academia, a college education serves more as a signal to employers rather than practical training for the workforce. This signal can certainly be effective. Companies want to hire the best and the brightest, and a bachelor’s degree serves — at least to some extent — as a proxy for discipline and intelligence. But do we really need this signal?
Germany and Sweden are among the world’s leading industrialized countries that offer a compelling alternative. In these countries, vocational training programs provide young adults with a direct and dignified path into the workforce — without the burden of an expensive university degree.
In Germany, students in these programs spend about one-third of their time in the classroom, studying theoretical knowledge relevant to their future occupation. The remaining two-thirds are spent working at a company, where they get hands-on experience applying their skills and earn a salary while completing their education. Graduates of these programs often transition directly into stable employment, contributing to Germany’s low youth unemployment rate.
Similarly, Sweden offers structured vocational tracks in various sectors, ranging from business and IT to healthcare and manufacturing. The Swedish National Agency for Higher Vocational Education analyses labor market data to identify skill shortages and ensure programs meet industry needs. As a result, these vocational training pathways are respected, effective and lead to secure, well-compensated careers.
By emphasizing skills over credentials, these countries challenge the idea that a bachelor’s degree should be the default requirement for success — and in doing so, they demonstrate that vocational work can be just as effective as a traditional college path. It’s time America does the same.
Today, the average American student spends roughly $100,000 for a four-year degree from an in-state public institution. The cost increases to $180,000 for an out-of-state public institution and $230,000 for a private university. At Northwestern, the estimated cost for a four-year degree is over $350,000.
Yes, universities and privately funded scholarships help low-income families pay the cost of tuition. But what about middle-class families or students who aren’t able to access these scholarships? The financial burden of higher education is huge, and it continues to grow every year.
This leads us to the topic of student loans. Unable to pay for the cost of college, Americans are forced into massive debt. Today, more than 40 million borrowers owe a combined $1.6 trillion in student debt.
Student loans aren’t just a burden for borrowers. They’re also a financial strain on the federal government. In theory, interest payments should make the student loan system a source of revenue — but it doesn’t. Many Americans are unable to repay these expensive loans, which has resulted in an estimated $197 billion in losses for the federal government as of 2021.
The current student loan system in the United States is unproductive. It throws millions of Americans into massive debt, and it is a huge revenue loss for the government. Moreover, the system imposes few constraints on who can borrow and how much. This means the government is effectively handing out blank checks to anyone who wants to go to college — enabling universities to continue raising tuition to the staggering levels we see today.
Just this past month, the United States lost its last perfect credit rating due to the federal government’s large and growing fiscal deficit. This isn’t breaking news. Scholars and policymakers have warned about the national debt, which now exceeds $35 trillion, for decades.
Our country is in a fiscal crisis that won’t be resolved anytime soon. Interest payments on the debt are rising, and as the American population ages, spending on Social Security and Medicare will also rise. This means the federal government will need to find a way to cut spending or increase taxes.
If our society put less emphasis on higher education, fewer Americans would be pressured to take out student loans in order to secure stable job opportunities. This could ease the burden on both individuals and the federal budget.
We are in a critical moment in American history. Since the FDR era, there has been broad consensus that the federal government should invest in higher education — both to strengthen national security and to improve the welfare of its citizens. Today, this near-century-long consensus is being challenged by the Trump administration.
Don’t get me wrong, the way they are going about it is bizarre. Cutting funding to critical research and threatening the institutional freedom of universities has been destructive for this country. However, the chaos created by the Trump administration has opened up a window of opportunity to rethink higher education in this country.
It’s time to put less emphasis and prestige on university degrees. It’s time Americans stop throwing themselves into massive student debt in fear that it is the only path to secure a stable, rewarding life. It’s time we start putting more value in trade schools, apprenticeships and career-specific training over fancy credentials from expensive universities.
It’s time to rethink higher education in America.
