College education is not necessary for most jobs

(iStock)

In the Jan. 24 Education article “Drop in college enrollment could have long-term impact,” various education specialists bemoaned the recent significant drop in college and university enrollments.

They are especially concerned that this will hurt the economy by reducing the pool of applicants for many jobs, as well as deny entry into the middle class to people without degrees.

I question whether either of these fears is valid.

When the pool of job applicants with (often irrelevant) degrees runs out, employers will simply hire intelligent and capable applicants without degrees — both problems solved.

You need specialized training for many jobs, but to insist that all applicants for good, well-paying jobs have a college degree is ridiculous.

The only ones to suffer here might be the institutions of higher learning themselves, many of which are running a con game for their own financial benefit.

Tom Ede, Washington