Trade schools better for many

I respond to the Tuesday letter “College degree worth the cost” from Austin Reid, in which he opined in his last sentence, “A fouryear degree remains the most effective path into the middle class.”

This was once true. When I attended college more than 40 years ago, the total cost was about $2,000 per year and most students graduated in four years. It was rare for anyone to have huge college loans to repay. Further, college graduates had a high probability of securing good-paying jobs when they graduated, regardless of their major.

Now, it takes many students five years to earn their degrees and the average cost of a college degree is more than $127,000. More than 70 percent of students take out loans, which will burden many of them for one or two decades. It is true that college degrees are required for some jobs, and if working in those professions is a person’s dream, he or she should be encouraged to pursue it. However, in 2016 approximately 44 percent of college graduates worked at jobs that did not require a college degree.

For many young adults today, a good alternative is to attend a two-year trade school, the total cost of which is approximately $35,000. The average trade-school graduate has a school debt of only $10,000 to repay.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says median income for dental hygienists is $72,910; respiratory therapists, $58,670; electricians, $52,720; and for plumbers, $51,450.

It appears that for many young adults, the most effective path into the middle class would be to attend a trade school, incur limited school loans, work at jobs that cannot easily be outsourced to other countries, and very possibly make as much income (and in some cases more) than their college-graduate counterparts.