22-year-old Ivy League graduates lie about dropping out of college to start their tech startup: 'They’re bragging about how they didn’t need college to succeed and influencing younger kids to drop out of school.'

Over the past year or so, there's been a lot more anti-college education rhetoric creeping into discourse. This is due to a lot of factors, but the rise of AI, tech layoffs, and the unstable vibes of the economy are the big three. You can no longer merely advise young people to pursue a degree that will supposedly make them a lot of money, such as Computer Science, because Computer Science graduates are struggling to get jobs as we speak. Nobody knows if AI will be a bubble that bursts in a couple of years or will be the reason that we are underemployed for the rest of our lives. In a world as uncertain as this, spending thousands of dollars on a college education might seem like a risk that won't pay off.

Is it true that college degrees are virtually worthless and are now the equivalent of high school diplomas? Probably not, but that's a compelling talking point for young people who don't want to attend college but feel pressured by their parents. There's something to be said for selling the idea that trades are the only way to ensure job security to young people. It's the same rhetoric touted 15 years ago about college ("If you don't get at least a bachelor's degree, you'll be flipping burgers"), but merely with a different vocational path attached. But you have to wonder, are the people who are advocating for young people to go into trades going into trades themselves? Or are they going to college and encouraging their kids to do the same, because they don't really believe what they're saying?