College and extended adolescense

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I would argue economics are more the cause than college. The fact is that while jobs have recovered from the economic collapse of last decade, wages are still lagging behind, and many people with a job are finding it harder to make ends meet than they did a decade ago. The answer to that problem is generally more 'communal' living, i.e. using one's family as support since it helps defray costs for the whole group. One thing that needs to be noted about people living in 'extended adolescence' is that the vast majority of them don't want to be in that situation, it's a situation of last resort.

As for the value of college there's not much there, education is valuable, but college per se is not. I didn't really get much out of college, I'm a self starting learner with an appetite for information, the classes moved slow and I got just as bored there as I did in high school. When I was younger I thought everyone was like that and those that weren't learning were just being lazy, I've since come to realize I'm the anomaly, not them. But, that's why I make the differentiation between college/trade school and education: one is an institution, the other is an ability. One can be educated without going to school, and schooling is no guarantee someone is educated. Our society conflates the two as one, but they're actually two completely different things.

I also find trade schools to be vastly under sold for their value, and the professions resulting from said schools (electrician, welder, mechanic, etc.) to be vastly under appreciated for the skills they provide. When I was going to college I studied electrical standards in my spare time, as well as plumbing (laugh away, fixing your own sink or toilet is not only satisfying, it's a giant cost saver, as well as providing hands on experience with fluid dynamics) and someday when I have time I'd like to learn welding. Each one of those professions are a necessity in the modern world, so much so that if we eliminated any one of them as a profession our modern world would come to a screeching halt. And yet, there are ad writers making 10x what a welder does and deriding said welder for his/her poor choice of profession, when all the ad writer does is sprinkle sugar on BS and considers it more 'productive'. It's pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

The point of going to a really good college is to learn critical thinking and skills so that you can learn whatever skills you need as the world changes. For instance, mathematical proofs, if properly understood and constructed, can save a tremendous amount of effort mucking around with trial and error. Of course, most people don't need to have this level of knowledge.

A good example is the National Electrical Code. It is a great example of something that is extremely useful. Buildings don't burn down the way the used to 100 years ago. All you need is for electricians to properly follow the code, and for the people living in them to not do something stupid that violates the code. Yeah, the second part is harder, but such is life. Smart people are needed to put the code together.

You get out of higher education what you put into it. Yes, many people go there thinking it is an extended party time, instead of studying or working toward their future career goals. And what do they get from doing that? They have to pay for the party some time later, while they lost out on educational opportunities that they could have had. Even if their parents foot the financial bill, they still lose out.

Society loses out too. These people that chose to party endlessly and barely pass their classes are not prepared for the jobs they can get with their degrees. These people often continue to be irresponsible and make poor choices.

And as noted earlier in the thread: they're more likely to get hired and promoted in the first place, because in college they created a large social network with all kinds of connections to jobs. We're in an era where who you know is more important than what you know. It's an ominous sign for the future.

So what if you actually need an actual college degree or credit of some kind to pursue your special interests?

Well, if you're looking at a career that requires a degree, then yes you're most likely going to need the degree, but if it's just a special interest you can learn virtually anything you want on your own. Get some information online to familiarize yourself with the subject. Then hit up a college website and find the syllabus for the courses that are tied to said subject and copy the 'required texts' part of the syllabus for the books you'll need to read. Then hit up a library for the books (most normal libraries won't have said books on the shelf, but through library loan transfers they'll be able to get them), or purchase them on your own (buy used from amazon or the like, textbooks are F'ing expensive).

Edit: you'll get everything you need out of the books, where the professor you won't be getting with this route is useful is if you have problems comprehending the texts. Luckily there's the internet again, if you have questions that need answered try Reddit, if no one there jumps in look for a forum that's geared towards your interest and ask there. This is actually one of the most used forums I've been on in the last decade, it's a plateauing (possibly dying) medium, so it make take a week or two for someone to reply.

Okay then, what if getting said degree IS the special interest or required for special interested. No one's going to let you be a legit doctor/veterinarian without one.

Slow your roll. Nobody is suggesting that attending college is bad idea. It,was said that it isn't suitable for everyone for a variety of reasons.