TV celebrity Mike Rowe is a hero to hard-working folks everywhere. He rocked the boat in an interview when he said, “We are lending money we don’t have to kids who can’t pay it back to train them for jobs that no longer exist. That’s nuts!”

For several generations, people in America were told if you want a good job, you have to go to college. I heard the message loud and clear in my life. In fact, it was drilled into me by my parents, teachers, television, and even my friends. As a middle class kid from white suburbia, it is just what you do. Just about everyone I knew in the early 1990s decided to go to some sort of undergraduate school. It was normal operating procedure, and few people ever questioned that logic.

Times changed quickly and people found out that getting a degree did not guarantee a job like in the old days. Fast forward to the present day, and things have changed. People are now openly counter-recruiting the universities, telling kids not to go to school.

Compare that to my friend who dropped out of high school as a sophomore, and instead went to a 2-month computer training class. He spent about $2,000 and got a job immediately. During the years I was in school, I was spending $200,000, and he was making about $30,000-$60,000 a year. I will average it out and say $40,000 a year. So by the time I graduated, he had already made $360,000 and was very well trained and established in his career. These days he makes way more money than that and is living happily and is comfortable.

I wish someone had explained how risky it was to go to school; if they had explained the numbers to me like this, no way would I have done it. "Don’t send your kids to college" has been echoing around the social media world hard for the last five years.

Media personality Johnson Rice said, “I think whatever is true about college now probably won't be true in 20 years, and I think most people make the exact same mistake baby boomers made by just following along with popular beliefs. They just did what they were told, and assumed that college was a good investment because that was the popular belief. If you do the same in assuming it's not in around 20 years when your kid might need it, then that is just as stupid of a mistake. Be prepared and do your own research; it may or may not make sense, but it's a lot of money, so the best advice is to really think it out and not make stupid assumptions based on popular conceptions.”

Although this anti-school sentiment is growing, there are still mixed feelings about it. Very few people were very pro-college, but the reasons they gave for liking college were mainly that they made great friends and business contacts. Other people I interviewed are still for attending undergraduate school, but are cautious about incurring a large debt load.

Alyssa Streller said, “I have earned my PhD, and the lessons from that education are innumerable. That being said, I do not think my kids should spend money on college right now. I would like them to get in a position that will pay for college so they are not saddled with debt, and so they are sure about where they want to go in their careers.”

Author C.C. Cole posted, “Unless the student has an academic drive that will lead to a realistic outcome that will get them out in 4 years (not "The Five Year Party"), and a job so they can pay off the debt, no. There was an article going around a couple of years ago: a student with a degree at NYU in "Religious and Women's Studies" owed over $100k, and came to the unsavory realization she couldn't get a job to pay the debt. I think those 'thinking degrees' are for the rich. If you work for a living, if you're going to use college, pick a field that will get you into the workplace.”

Winona Morris stated, “I never went to college and I work in a retail job. You know, the kind that people say is not 'real' work whenever we feel like minimum wage should be raised. As if a piece of paper would magically find me a high-paying job. Several of the people I work with are in college with dreams of quitting as soon as they graduate. As it turns out, other people I work with have already graduated but are still there. My husband has a college degree as well, and he also works a retail job. If my sons want to go to college to actually learn something, I'm behind them 100%. If they want to go because they think a college degree will land them a better slot in life, I'll tell them I don't think it works that way anymore.”

“I wouldn't go just go to. I have a friend who got one of those multidisciplinary degrees, where you take mostly basic courses, just to say she has a degree. I respect my friend all day long but wouldn't do that. I recommend only getting a degree if you have a specific field or job in mind. I know I want to work in the media, so I got a Bachelor's in Electronic Media and am starting to turn the wheels towards a Master's in Communication with a focus in P.R. College is too huge a cost to go in without a set path in mind,” Jackie Fiest cautioned.

Lorri Rodier shared this: “I have a daughter and she refuses to go to college. Once she works and knows the field she wants to work in, she may further her education, but will not go into debt for it. That’s a direct quote from her.”

Many people I interviewed were openly hostile about getting higher education. They either regret going or feel lied to. Most people support learning a trade instead or starting a business.

Ben Allen Bucchioni posted, “Dropped out of high school and never went to college; funny thing is it hasn't held me back much at all. My friend's got a degree in creative writing; he works at a rock quarry weighing trucks to pay off his loans. Waste of time is a understatement.”

“I'd encourage my kids to pursue a trade; they are always in demand, and a much better skill than test-taking. But I try not to be biased, given my utter contempt for traditional 'education' models. If one decided to go to college, I'd support him (not financially), and hope the major was in something lucrative,” said Melissa Moran.

Joshua Joscelyn pointed out, “What may have been true for the last generation is simply no longer true. I have 3 degrees and find myself wondering if I should go to a vocational school to learn an actual skill. We have far too many PhDs in this country, and not enough heavy equipment operators.”

Mary Pomeroy posted, “I can't even get that job! Got my college degree and have been unable to find a job; apparently I'm 'over qualified,' while at the same time I seem to be lacking the necessary skills. So glad I went into debt getting that piece of paper that is now preventing me from finding the employment I was told I would find with it! I’m currently taking graduate classes in the hopes that I will be able to find a job in the next couple of years. I almost wish I had never gone to college: I would have a job andwouldn't have the debt."

Tracy Diaz thought of her own creative solution: “I am going to be taking an interesting route with my kids. Out of high school they are going to pick four fields that they think they want to pursue as a career. They will then get internships in each of those fields, 3 months a piece, or whatever they feel necessary, paid or unpaid. They will live with me rent-free during this process. When they find something they love, they will either stay there and have their employer invest in their education, start their own company, or decide to go to school. As long as it takes.”