Doctor, lawyer, clergy, teacher, of these clergy was the main and earliest of those needing university education and clergy also furnished much of the legal expertise. Now we have engineer and scientist that need extensive and intensive training and credentials. College grad isn’t worth so much relatively anymore, but grad school still has something going especially when it provides a professional sheepskin for the office wall. For financial success there is little to compare with some trade unions, and for that the college route might be ruled out altogether. It’s a different game even compared with 1/4 century ago.
i live in Northern VA. i was in the Seven Corners area of surburban VA on Saturday and saw a sign advertising $100,000 jobs to speakers of arabic. while there are native born speakers of arabic around, i would think american born but arabic-trained speakers would have a better chance at employment with some security type firms.