There has been a constant push to get kids to go to college, and with the large number of college graduates who cannot get jobs that actually require a degree, it is refreshing to see this interview with Mike Rowe with an opposite opinion.
https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/15/mike-rowe-to-bernie-sanders-stop-telling
reason: We're doing everything we can to push every kid to go to a four-year college. What's wrong there?
Mike Rowe: It's not working. You've got a trillion dollars in debt on the student loan side. We have a skills gap.
reason: What do you mean by skills gap?
Rowe: You have right now about 3 million jobs in transportation, commerce, and trades that can't be filled.
reason: This is anything from carpentry to being an electrician, a plumber, construction-
Rowe: Heating, electric, truck drivers. Welders is a big one. There's a long list of jobs that parents typically don't sit down and say to their kids: "Look, if all goes well, this is what you're going to do."
reason: But these are actually jobs that are not only available but pay well.
Rowe: Yes, is the short answer. But of course, "pay well" is kind of relative. What they are mostly, in my opinion, are opportunities. A good welder right now can pretty much write his or her own ticket. Companies like Caterpillar, Bechtel, you can go down the list: They have had open shortages for decades. I talked to a kid the other day up in Butler, North Dakota. So it's Butler, right? It's cold. But he works on heavy equipment up there, makes over $100 an hour, works when he wants, paid for his house in cash, raising a family, no debt. People don't tell his story.
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