I too was told from an extremely young age that college was essentially a must. Everyone, regardless of ability or financial situation, it seemed, was destined for college. The public school I went to did little or nothing to expose us to other options. That's a crime. Students need to be made aware of the wide array of career routes they have as far trade school and skilled labor, as well as community college and whatnot. Not everyone was destined for college. It seems there's an argument somewhere for the public to subsidize state colleges more, which may help young people and the economy overall.
I like this idea a lot. Germany has had free college for a while. I spent the summer there, and the more I thought about it, the more astounded I was. As someone paying through the nose for a college education, it seems too good to be true that it could all be free. Not that we would ever make it free here, but it will be interesting to see what happens with higher education. Every year college becomes less and less viable for so many Americans. What's going to happen? Are prices going to reach a peak and then collapse, or will it just become impossible to go to school here without being incredibly wealthy? I don't know much about economics, certainly not enough to speculate, but it looks like something's going to have to give.