Editorial: America needs more people who work with their hands

As former President Ronald Reagan famously noted, if you subsidize something, you’ll get more of it. But when it comes to higher education, that’s only half the story.

For decades, America’s education establishment pushed most students toward attending college. This year, The New York Times described the phrase “college for all” as “an American rallying cry.” It reported, “The goal inspired a generation of educators, offered a north star to students and united political figures from George W. Bush to Bernie Sanders.”

Pushing college attendance seems like a logical move. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that, in 2024, college graduates had a lower unemployment rate than those with only a high school diploma. Those with a bachelor’s degree had median weekly earnings of more than $1,