Unemployment 20-29 (2 year associate academic):
.6%
Unemployment 20-29 (2 year vocational):
5.2%#econtwitter further thoughts?— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) May 15, 2025
College was supposed to be the ticket. The path. The safety net that guaranteed something better. Parents took out loans. Students borrowed more. Politicians promised it was the only way to get ahead. And now, those same students freshly armed with four-year degrees are walking straight into a wall.
Among 20 to 29-year-olds with a bachelor’s degree, the unemployment rate has surged to a jaw-dropping 15.3 percent. That’s not a typo. That’s not some pandemic-era leftover. That’s today’s number. In a labor market supposedly “tight” and “robust,” one in seven recent college grads can’t find work. For comparison, the national unemployment rate overall hovers around 3.9 percent. During the Great Depression, white-collar unemployment peaked around 16 percent. We’re nearly there again for the nation’s most educated youth.
Contrast that with those holding two-year associate degrees. The difference is night and day. Associate vocational grads between 20 and 29 are seeing just 5.2 percent unemployment. If the degree was academic in nature, it drops to 0.6 percent. And for traditional associate degrees, the number lands at 2.1 percent. These are real jobs, real skills, and real paychecks.
The divide isn’t philosophical. It’s mechanical. Traditional colleges pushed degrees in sociology, communications, and “leadership studies,” while trade schools trained welders, HVAC techs, mechanics, and medical assistants. One group ended up quoting Rousseau in their parents’ basement. The other is fixing your AC in 100-degree heat and getting paid $85 an hour to do it.
More than 43 million Americans currently hold student loan debt. The average balance is $38,290. For those with graduate degrees, it’s often well over $60,000. And yet, nearly one out of every six recent grads can’t land a job. Meanwhile, plumbers, linemen, machinists, and electricians can barely keep up with demand. Many hit six-figure incomes by their late 20s. Fewer years in school. Lower debt. And much higher job security.
Federal funding continues to favor the four-year path. Billions pour into universities endowments balloon, tenured faculty see raises, and administrative bloat grows unchecked. In 2023 alone, public colleges received over $90 billion in federal subsidies. Trade schools? Barely a blip. And yet the employment numbers say everything.
Even worse, many of these unemployed graduates are invisible to headline stats. They’re not counted if they’ve stopped actively looking for work. That includes those waiting out job markets in unpaid internships, side gigs, or graduate programs they hope will turn the tide. Reality hits when the bills arrive. Student loan payments restarted late last year after a multi-year freeze. Defaults are already ticking up.
America has a choice. Continue dumping public money into academic degrees that aren’t leading to jobs—or shift toward skilled education that reflects what the economy actually demands. If current trends hold, it won’t even be a choice. It’ll be a correction. Trade schools and apprenticeships are already swelling with applicants. Employers are bypassing résumés altogether in favor of certifications and portfolios.
Young people sense the shift. The stigma is fading. Parents and school counselors are slowly realizing that a toolbelt might earn more than a framed diploma. This isn’t about shaming college. It’s about reading the numbers, following the outcomes, and investing in education that builds futures not just institutions.
Fewer lectures. More torque wrenches. Less theory. More practice.