I graduated in the early 90s, and went to a state school in nearby Newark NJ that was accessible by bus (I had no car). I had to borrow for part of my last year, and when the bank offered to let me start paying it off after graduation I declined, since I was working, and starting paying it off during the school year (I was debt-free less than 1 year after graduation).
When I think about how miserable it was looking for a job in the early 90s (I voted for Bush but understood why he lost), and how much worse the job market is today (with outsourcing and import of labor), I couldn’t imagine the costs of school today versus the potential return; I wouldn’t know where to steer a teenager.
I agree, it’s a tough call as to advising a young person as to whether or not to seek a college degree. Over the last couple decades the job market in the USA has been pretty miserable. And it does not appear as though things are going to get better.
I was born in 1940 and I think my lucky stars that I was born then and was able to grow up in the prosperous 1950s and 1960s. You and today’s contemporaries have had it rough. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any letup in the near future.
Hope that you’re doing OK now.