It is heartening to learn that young Americans are beginning to recognize that they are being sold a bill-of-goods with the “everyone needs college” mantra.

Princeton University student David Will takes a hard looks at the numbers, and recognizes that college isn’t for everyone (hat-tip, Instapundit).

It’s time for a large number of Americans to hear what might seem like a harsh message: A degree from a four-year university might not be for you. Popular culture would cast this frank assessment as elitist. But that’s a toxic myth that needs to vanish because the stakes are too high. A new study by Young Invincibles, a think tank geared toward issues facing young Americans, estimates that high youth unemployment costs the government about $25 billion in lost tax revenue. All the while, there are three million jobs that employers can’t fill because too many workers lack the requisite skills.

…Relentlessly playing up the importance of a degree from a four-year university perpetuates an ironic snobbery. Those who emphasize the importance of a four-year degree often do so to the detriment of other paths to a prosperous life. We blindly push people toward college without considering if it’s actually the best option for the individual student. Meanwhile, community colleges and vocational schools, two phenomenal avenues to the middle class, are ignored. Advocates of college for all have created a culture that shuns people’s choices to pursue anything else.

These destructive cultural attitudes manifest in government policy. States simply do not prioritize community colleges. “Between 1999 and 2009, community college funding increased just one dollar per student, while per-student funding at private research universities jumped almost $14,000,” write Eduardo Padron and Anthony Marx in US News and World Report. Large universities will obviously require more money overall to function, but the disparity in need can’t be that great. Government investment in community colleges is a sound one; an associate’s degree is a low-cost, high-reward chance at higher education and a better life.

….The disparity between U.S. college enrollment and graduation rates is too vast to ignore. The fact is that, for many, college just isn’t the best investment. Political correctness is toxic and indulgent. It’s self-righteous censorship that too often harms the people it claims to help. The perpetual fear to encourage millennials to pursue anything other than a four-year degree hurts those very young adults. This timidity prevents advocacy for critical issues like funding for apprenticeships and community colleges. In this seemingly jobless economic recovery, one thing I won’t tolerate is continuing to leave young Americans behind.