When college was marketed as a money making scheme back in the 60s and 70s, many of us heeded the call. By the 80s, we could see that there was a clear class divide between the haves and the have nots. The haves went to a big name university and worked in prestige jobs.

TV, movies and moms all urged us to get that sheepskin or be like you uncle Steve who still works at the gas station at the age of 48. No one wanted to be Uncle Steve.

One of the big culprits of the notion that you need a college degree to succeed in life comes from the selling of college as a ticket out of your social class strata. When employers who pay well require a college level education and we're told that you're losing an extra million in personal revenue without that sheepskin, parents and students take notice.

There's also a correlation between the decline in union power in the 80s and the loss of skilled trades personnel (I don't have numbers at 5:35 am) which leads to stagnant wages and less vigorous recruiting.

When we look at the rise in cost of living and income inequality, kids are stuck buying into any solution that can get them out of mom's basement. Whether it's becoming a TikTok millionaire influencer or get into college to earn that extra million.