College enrollment rates for high school graduates in the U.S. has been on the decline since 2009. Sean Behr, CEO of Fountain a high-volume hiring platform, joined Cheddar News to discuss why high school graduates are benefitting from the value of attending a trade school, especially in today's economy.

<div class="block">College enrollment rates for high school graduates in the U.S. has been on the decline since 2009. Sean Behr, CEO of Fountain a high-volume hiring platform, joined Cheddar News to discuss why high school graduates are benefitting from the value of attending a trade school, especially in today&#39;s economy.</div>

Closing Bell

More U.S. High School Grads Opt for Trade School

It is Career Friday here on Cheddar news when we share our top tips and advice for job seekers. Well, since the 2008 recession, public views toward higher education have changed and the college enrollment rate for us, high school graduates has been on the decline since it topped at 71% in 2009. So a recent Wall Street Journal and Norc poll did show that 42% of respondents thought college was worth it. 56% thought college was not worth the cost. A high cost in some places or more high school students are opting for trade schools stating concerns about pay and post graduation job prospects. So joining me now is Sean Beer, Ceo of Fountain Sean. Thanks so much for coming on the show. Why do you think so many high school students are opting for trade schools over a traditional four year college? You know, I found, you know, we really think this is a, a tale of two economies. Um you know, you have a, a white collar and a knowledge worker base that is, you know, it's a tough economy out there in the outerly work. World, you know, the trades and the, the industry jobs, it's actually a pretty robust economy. You know, companies can't hire fast enough in the hourly blue collar and gray collar world. And so you're seeing companies offer higher wages, sign on bonuses, perks, better flexibility and the opportunity for advancement. And I think for lots of people who are graduating from high school, that's a really great opportunity for them. So Sean for anyone who's in high school, and they're thinking about the next step, whether a trade school is the right option for them, perhaps finances has something to do with it or whether a four year traditional college is the right way to go. How should they go about making that decision? You know, I think it comes down to it. It's obviously gonna be different for each individual. But, you know, one of the things that we see in this economy at the front line workforce is lots of companies are offering the opportunity to get training, they'll actually pay for school, they'll pay for certification and for licenses just to get these great workers into their company. And from there, the sky is the limit. You can actually get to jobs that are paying upwards or almost to the six figure range without a college degree. And that's a really great opportunity. Of course, you know, the the four year traditional liberal arts education, that might be the right place for some folks. But I think lots of people are also looking at these four year schools really low admittance rates. It's really tough to get in. Right. The R O Y is an unknown factor and it also takes away four years of earning power. And so I might, might get a return on my investment, but that investment is probably four and five years away. Whereas, you know, getting in with a great company who's gonna really take care of me from day one probably is the better option for lots of folks. What are some of the common jobs uh that people go to a trade school for, you know, transportation, warehouse and logistics continues to be the backbone of this economy. So everything from, you know, package handling, you know, commercial truck drivers, delivery, everything in the supply chain is an incredibly, incredibly uh competitive labor market. You also see things like industrials, things like power plants and manufacturing that continue to be really interesting one that may, you know, surprise some of the listeners, health care, entry level, health care jobs, you know, things like pharmacy technicians, physicians, assistants, nursing assistants, people that are taking care of aging seniors, whether it's in their home or in a facility, those are all incredibly attractive opportunities for people without a four year college degree. So if someone wants to learn more about this, whether or not a trade school is right for them, Sean, where's the first place that they should go? You know, lots of great places to do some research, right? I I would look at some of the biggest employers in the country, their career sites, you know, found we obviously work with lots of the largest companies. They put a ton of en of energy into their career sites in terms of explaining the entry level and co and and high school graduates where they can learn more about opportunities for advancement. So one great place is look at companies that you really admire in your economy, go to their career site, figure out what kind of opportunities they have, what kind of benefits, what kind of flexibility they offer. And I think they'll be surprised at some of the great things they can learn in terms of earnings power over time, Sean can a worker expect a raise that's pretty consistent with inflation each year in one of these jobs or is it basically an entry level salary? And then they stick with that throughout the course of decades. You know, I think this the robustness of the economy in this, in this front line worker has actually made things pretty incredible. There's a very large, you know, fountain works with hundreds of customers this year. Our customers hired two million front line workers. So we have a lot of data here. One of our largest customers, you know, is actually offering the ability for a frontline worker to get a technical training certificate that will move them into an engineering profession. One of the reasons why they're doing that is recruiting has never been more difficult. And so they're, they're actually offering these kind of advancements that could move you from a entry level hourly job into a long term engineering profession while still working at the company. I think that's a, you're gonna see more and more of these upskilling and retraining opportunities. And again, that comes across tens of millions of applications and, and millions and millions of hires at Fountain. We see that all the time. What does your company do, Sean the CEO Fountain? That's what you are as this fits into the trade school business. Yeah. So that is all about helping, you know, the front line worker, open opportunities and get the next opportunity for them. So we help large organizations, large companies hire workers at scale and we do that in 75 countries around the world. Um But if you think about companies that rely on these frontline workers, they need software that can actually power their business and get the right people into their companies and fountains, the best tool to do that. I'm just curious, Sean, whether or not you think a four year college degree is still worth it. You know, it's probably worth it for, for some people. You know, I think, I think you'll still see people who want to go pursue that. I think one of the great things about pursuing a trade school or pursuing going direct to an employer is, it doesn't mean the four year college degree is off the table. You know, you can always go back a year or two later. In fact, I think for many people who have actually gotten a four year degree, if they look back in hindsight, they would say, boy, I wish I had taken a year or two before I pursued that degree and maybe I would have gotten my, my company to pay for it or subsidize it. Um So it's still right for certain folks. But you know, I think the R O Y especially this cost of these four year degrees has gone up dramatically faster than inflation. It's brought the R Y calculation into sharper focus. And so I think for lots and lots of people, it just isn't the default. And I think that's great for us. It's great for our economy and it's certainly great for Fountain, right? Sean. Be Sea of Fountain Sean. Thank you.