Many in Gen Z ditch colleges for trade schools. Meet the 'toolbelt generation'
With demand for jobs like HVAC technicians, electricians and wind turbine installers, enrollment is ticking up at vocational schools as four-year college costs continue to soar.
Sy Kirby dreaded the thought of going to college after graduating from high school. He says a four-year degree just wasn't in the cards for him or his bank account.
"I was facing a lot of pressure for a guy that knew for a fact that he wasn't going to college," Kirby says. "I knew I wasn't going to sit in a classroom, especially since I knew I wasn't going to pay for it."
Instead, at the age of 19, Kirby took a job at a local water department in southern Arkansas. He said the position helped him to
