That college is thought to be superior to trade school/learning a trade/going straight to work must be a leftover from the days of White Glove Society. It's strange that the thought persists. College is one avenue - and that's it. And it's not even a guaranteed avenue. My second-cousin, 25, didn't go to college, but he did just start his own HVAC business. Had he gone to college, who knows what he would *not* have accomplished?