Now more than ever, less people are needing college degrees to get hired. Many workplaces are focusing on skills-first hiring, rather than hiring based on a college degree. Our Governor, Spencer Cox, is also making an effort to remove degree requirements from government jobs. 

“Far too often, degrees have become a blanketed barrier to entry in too many jobs. Instead of focusing on demonstrating competence, the focus has too often become on a piece of paper… there are different ways to learn, there are different ways to get an education, and there are different experiences people have had,” governor, Cox, said. 

So what does this mean for high school students? Is college still the norm, or are more people shifting to different ways of obtaining an education?

I conducted a poll to get an idea what FHS Seniors’ post-high school plans look like. 62 out of 118 people are still planning on attending college in the fall. 41 people are going to a trade school or another type of secondary learning. Only 15 people aren’t going to any type of school after high school at all.  

Jake Call is a Senior at Farmington and is currently at a trade school for barbering. He is working on getting his license and will continue on to work in a barber shop after graduation.

“College is dumb unless you know exactly what you want to do in my opinion. If you aren’t confident in what you want to do, why waste all the money when you could put it somewhere else that’s going to benefit you?,” senior, Call, said. 

Regardless of what your post-high school plans are, everyone has a different path to take and they don’t work for everyone, so just follow the path that works for you!