Mike Rowe: Trade workers freer without $300K ‘millstone’ around neck

(NewsNation) — Vocational training enrollment is growing as younger generations explore careers they can enter without “a $300,000 millstone around (their) neck” from student loans, “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe said on “CUOMO.”

The TV personality and CEO of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation joined a special edition of “CUOMO” on Wednesday to highlight blue-collar job availability, and why it seems to have piqued younger generations’ interest.

“There are plenty of people in Gen Z right now who are killing it,” Rowe said. “They’re prospering. They’re making six figures, they have no debt and they’re wearing a toolbelt, and nobody’s telling their stories. I think when we do, we’re liable to see this whole thing tip.”

Why do some people go to trade school over college?

Retiring tradesmen and those aging out of the workforce are leaving vacancies in vital, hands-on industries, while high-school-aged students have, for decades, been urged to pursue four-year degrees, Rowe said.

“Back in the 70s, we needed more doctors, we needed more engineers, but what we did is we promoted one form of education at the expense of all the others,” he said.

At the same time, trade school is often considered a more affordable alternative to a four-year university. As of 2023, public trade schools cost an average of a little more than $12,000, according to data from the career website Zippia. Tuition costs and other expenses such as textbooks and industry-specific tools or equipment are wide-ranging and vary across industries and program types.

For some, like mechanic and MikeroweWORKS Foundation scholarship recipient Michael Gamez, trade school has been a path toward getting paid to do what he already loved.

The foundation has distributed about $8.7 million and 1,800 Work Ethic Scholarships over the past nine years.

“No matter what the trade is going to be and what you’re going to study for, take pride in that,” Gamez said.

For others, like fellow scholar Tracy Wilson, a skilled trade education led to financial independence and prosperity.

Wilson was a single mother at a low point when she decided to study electronics engineering technology.

“I was, like, I can’t sit here and depend on somebody else to pay the rest of the bills,” Wilson said. “I have to do this.”

Wilson never missed a day of class. She now works on the electronics that allow fighter jet pilots to communicate.

How did we get here?

The alarms sounded for Rowe as traditional vocational programs began to disappear from schools, he said.

“It started with a lack of appreciation for the artistry in the work,” Rowe said. “That was fueled by a whole lot of financial concerns and that was driven by a lot of well-intended parents and guidance counselors who wanted to get kids on ‘a better path.’”

For decades, young people were told they needed a four-year education, or else they would be “stuck turning a wrench,” Rowe said.

“That was a powerful message…” Rowe said. “It resonated with a whole generation of kids and today, you don’t have to be an economist to look around and see $1.7 trillion in outstanding student loans on the books, 10 million open jobs — most of which don’t require a four-year degree, but training — and we’re still out there behind this crazy message.”

U.S. Department of Education data from people who were in high school from 2009-2007 showed that about 77% participated to some degree in career and technical education (CTE) programs.

Less than half, however, went on to concentrate in a specific trade after high school.

“We’re still lending money we don’t have to kids who are never going to be able to pay it back to train them for a bunch of jobs that, frankly, aren’t in demand anymore,” Rowe said. “That’s bananas.”

What does working a trade job entail?

Depending on the industry and program, trade school can be a faster and more affordable way to break into a career, but hard work goes into mastering a trade.

MikeroweWORKS Foundation scholarship recipient Sean Kelly described his five-year plumbing apprenticeship as “The most difficult thing I have ever done in my entire life.”

Kelly wanted to be an organic farmer, but after interning on three farms over five years, he decided he needed to change course. He was working in a butcher’s shop when the plumber who would become his instructor for the next five years told him how much money he could earn in the industry.

Last year, master plumbers saw their median pay rise to $82,700 — a 21% jump from the year prior, PayScale found.

“I had to show up for day school,” Kelly said. “I had to show up for work. I had to show up for night school, and by the time I earned my journeyman license, I had a deep sense of pride for what I do as a living.”

Learning a trade isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor, said Roger Wakefield, known online as “The Expert Plumber.”

“What a lot of people don’t understand getting into the trades, there’s residential, there’s commercial, there’s industrial, there’s new construction, there’s service, there’s non-union, there’s union … all kinds of different things,” Wakefield said.

Now what?

Some school administrators are working to reframe how they talk to young people about life after high school.

Sara Hall, assistant principal of White Plains High School in New York, said she encourages students to consider their options after graduation, even if that doesn’t involve going to college.

“Success is not measured by how much money you make,” Hall said. “Success is measured by how happy you are.”

Meanwhile, programs like those through the staffing and recruiting company ApTask are helping students become “workforce ready,” ApTask Global CEO Eddie Bright Jr. said.

Generation Z is a generation that has had technology their entire lives.

“Because of technology, they’ve missed a lot of the hands-on skills that they could have gotten,” Bright said.

To help bridge that gap, Investopedia editor-in-chief Caleb Silver said it’s important to talk with young people about career opportunities early on.

“We need that career development conversation to be happening in high schools,” he said. “We need to be talking about what it costs to be you and the you you want to be so this disconnect doesn’t get deeper.”