“A friend has just sent his boy to a ten month training school to be a diesel mechanic. The cost? $50,000.”
Holy cow! When I went to vocational school (electronics) in the ‘80s, it cost $30/quarter plus books. I made a very good living with that education. My midlife crisis lured me into culinary school, which ran about $30K plus books for 18 months. The good news is your friend’s son will probably be imminently more employable than someone with a $240k liberal arts degree. Still be a while paying off those loans though.
My 4 week class to get my dispatchers license was $7000..