[Marie]

If you earn a college degree it proves to potential employers that you can:
meet deadlines
work on multiple projects
engage in critical thinking
successfully reach long term goals
work effectively with others
coherently present facts from numerous different sources properly prioritize assignments

That's amazing. If a young person got a job right out of high school and worked their butts off for four years, wouldn't that also prove all those things without the thousands and thousands of dollars of debt?

[ColdWater]

That's amazing. If a young person got a job right out of high school and worked their butts off for four years, wouldn't that also prove all those things without the thousands and thousands of dollars of debt?

Chances are, that after working their butts off for four years, they would still be thousands of dollars in debt ...

[frankiep]

Good luck even getting an interview for certain higher paying jobs with long term career possibilities with nothing more than a high school diploma. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but any realistic person would have to admit that those cases are the exception to the rule.

The bottom line whether people like it or not is that any smart employer/company, when it comes down to choosing between someone who is good at their job/skill, and someone who is good at their job/skill AND educated will more often than not choose the former.