Today’s advice to many high school students is, unless you plan on getting a 4-year degree in a STEM field, you may be better off to pursue a 2-year degree or occupational certificate in a technical field rather pursue a 4-year college degree. You’ll have better job security, lower educational loans to pay off. Citing recent work by Martha Bailey and Susan Dynarski on 4-year degree completion by household income, however, the author finds that the rich aren’t taking this advice – preferring their offspring to get bachelor’s degrees. This is because broad education helps expand skills like critical thinking and communication – skills needed for job success no matter how technology may evolve.

More about Bailey and Dynarski’s work cited in piece on why 2-year tech degrees not best idea for many students >