re: Scales tipped against college?

A hard working and ambitious HS graduate can make very good money in trades. I have a friend who is an electrician who owns his company. He has 22 core guys employed right now but has so much work that they struggle to keep up. He is having a lot of trouble hiring quality people to keep up. He is at the point where he is willing to hire people with zero electrical experience as long as they are trainable and reliable. His last two hires lasted one week (never showed up after first week. My friend found out he was jailed) and the other guy lasted a month. He was an hour late every day due to drinking problem. These were guys with experience that he started at $24 an hour and were guaranteed at least 10 hours of OT at time and a half per week. He is now offering $20 an hour to anyone who is willing to learn the ropes. He has a 3rd year 24 year old who was a fry cook when he hired him. Kid showed a tremendous work ethic and proficiency to learn and is now making $30 an hour and leading a 3 man crew. With 10-15 hours of OT he is making $70-80k a year.

The trade jobs are there to make a good living for someone without a college degree. Just hard to find the people willing to do what it takes to take advantage of the opportunity.