Are the Gen Z folks now deciding that college is not the right path?

A report from Vice last year pointed out that Gen Z, which consists of those born between the mid-’90s and the early 2000’s, are attempting to avoid the mistakes of millennials and focus on getting jobs that pay well without acquiring useless degrees and crushing debt:

For decades, technical and vocational schools have been falling out of favor, as more and more people opt for getting advanced degrees at four-year colleges. But recently, with the job market over-promising and underpaying, the trend has begun to reverse: States have started to reinvest in trade schools. And the generation inheriting volatile job prospects, a gig economy, and contract pay is following suit.

Generation Z—those who were born between the mid-1990s and early 2000s—are more often turning to trade schools to avoid the skyrocketing student debt crisis and hone skills that translate directly into jobs, from electrical engineering to cosmetology. While the power of trade unions has dwindled, and societal value still favors more elite professions, young students are finding themselves drawn to stable paychecks in fields where there’s an obvious need.

According to the Washington Post in October, the student debt has reached a mindblowing $1.53 trillion. This debt shared by so many millennials has put them on the fast track to failure despite the fact that they hold masters degrees. They own no houses because they can’t afford to have one, and it doesn’t help that despite their expensive degrees, they’re finding it difficult to get a decently paying job due to the fact that the job market is choked with an excess of graduates all trying to get the same career going.