An electrician at work [123RF]
An electrician at work [123RF]

As AI spreads and anxiety over white-collar job security grows, more members of Generation Z in the United States are choosing trade careers over college. Soaring tuition costs and student loan burdens are adding to the appeal, driving strong interest in vocational schools.

The New York Times reported Monday that more than 60 percent of US high school graduates go on to college, but vocational school enrollment has been climbing of late. Data from the National Student Clearinghouse show that enrollment at public two-year trade schools rose about 20 percent between 2020 and 2025, while private vocational school enrollment has also trended upward.

A key driver is the cost gap between vocational programs and traditional four-year universities. The average cost of a four-year private university in the United States runs about $200,000 (290 million won), while total tuition at most private vocational schools comes in at under $25,000.

Despite costing roughly one-tenth as much, trade school graduates can land jobs paying more than $80,000 a year — a draw that experts say is hard to ignore. Industry groups and government agencies are also stepping up support through scholarships and other incentives to help build a skilled workforce.

Twelve young tradespeople interviewed by the newspaper said they had heard plenty of adult advice urging them to go to college, but the reality they witnessed firsthand told a different story. Friends and siblings who earned college degrees still struggled to find work, and when AI began upending the labor market, no one could offer a clear answer on how to respond, they said.

Logan Bangert, 18, from Los Banos, California, was accepted to try out for the Pennsylvania State University football team but walked away from college after facing annual tuition of more than $50,000. He now works in Houston repairing wind turbine blades, earning between $80,000 and $90,000 a year. "A lot of people worry about losing their jobs to AI, but at least for now, I don't have that worry," Bangert said.

Ladona Glass, 23, enrolled at Mississippi State University in 2021 with dreams of becoming a youth therapist, but dropped out after a year and pivoted to electrical work, uncertain whether the enormous time and cost required to become a therapist would pay off. She currently earns $21 an hour and is working toward full membership in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The average annual salary for an IBEW-affiliated electrician is $90,000.

Experts agree that negative perceptions of trade work must change first. Shana Bruni, chief operating officer of the nonprofit Bring Back the Trades, said tradespeople are often portrayed in popular culture as lacking intellectual ability. "That stereotype is keeping young people out of fields that are already facing projected labor shortages," she said.


bbo@heraldcorp.com