tldr: skip school become rich
“The unemployment rate among U.S. workers with a four-year degree was 2.7 percent last year, compared with 5.2 percent for those with only a high school diploma.” seems like a lot of college grads are out of work, right (like higher than 2.7%)? maybe the people who finished college and are bartending (underemployed) count as employed.
I could see that in the future, skills-based bootcamp programs could disrupt traditional university programs. These days too many graduates end up with a load of debt and no real marketable skills. I think universities are getting to the point where they can feel like more of a check-the-box commodity rather than a true provider of value. Anything that you can learn from a university can also be learned for cheap or free via a MOOC – and would likely be more cutting-edge.
Of course, employers still don’t feel this way (yet) and will screen out any applicant without a college degree… but I could see this changing in the future as applicant skills / intelligence can be more easily tested / verified. If (when?) employers begin to value skills over university degrees, then that would pretty much be curtains for most universities.