ALL THAT NOW ON MATTER OF FACT. ON THE FACE OF IT, GOING TO COLLEGE MAKES SENSE. RECENT NUMBERS SHOW A YOUNG PERSON WITH A BACHELOR’S DEGREE MAKES ABOUT $22,000 A YEAR MORE THAN SOMEONE WITHOUT ONE. BUT EVEN WITH THE PROSPECT OF A BETTER PAYING JOB, STUDENTS ARE STARTING TO ASK, IS COLLEGE WORTH IT? FROM COST TO TIME INVESTED TO WORK LIFE BALANCE AND EVEN POLITICAL POINTS OF VIEW, SOME STUDENTS ARE RETHINKING COLLEGE AS THE NEXT STEP AFTER HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION. OUR CORRESPONDENT LAURA CHAVEZ WENT TO CENTRAL INDIANA TO TALK WITH TWO SENIORS WHO ARE DECIDING TO TAKE A DIFFERENT PATH. CAN YOU GET THE PLACE? I’M JUST ABOUT DONE. IT’S DINNERTIME AT THE MOORE HOME IN CENTRAL INDIANA. AND OWEN MOORE, THE YOUNGEST OF THE FIVE CHILDREN AND A SENIOR AT KOKOMO HIGH SCHOOL, IS THE CENTER OF THE FAMILY’S ATTENTION. YOU’RE STARTING IN SEPTEMBER, RIGHT? YEAH. DESPITE WHAT COULD BE CONSIDERED A FAMILY TRADITION, OWEN ISN’T FOLLOWING IN THE COLLEGIATE FOOTSTEPS OF HIS SIBLINGS AND PARENTS. IT WAS DEFINITELY A LITTLE, LIKE, NERVE WRACKING, LIKE GOING IN AND TELLING THEM, LIKE, HEY, I’M NOT GOING TO COLLEGE. BUT MY PARENTS HAVE BEEN VERY, LIKE, RESPECTFUL AND SUPPORTIVE OF OF MY DECISION, MY PLANS ARE TO START AT HOBART AROUND SEPTEMBER OR AUGUST AND CUT THE K OUT WELDED TO THE CENTER OF THE GATE. HOBART IS A WELDING INSTITUTE IN OHIO. HE’LL BE IN A NINE MONTH PROGRAM AND AFTER THAT IT’S IN INTO THE WORKFORCE, HOPING TO MAKE ABOUT $40,000 A YEAR. OWEN IS PART OF A GROWING TREND WITH GEN Z OPTING OUT OF COLLEGE IN 2021, 43% OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES ENROLLED IN A FOUR YEAR COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY. THAT’S DOWN 3% OVER FIVE YEARS. THE MAIN REASON CITED COST. THE 2004 GRADUATING CLASS WAS LOOKING AT AN ANNUAL PUBLIC SCHOOL COST OF ABOUT $4,600. NOW, THAT SAME TYPE OF PUBLIC SCHOOL COSTS OVER $9,300, PUSHING MANY STUDENTS TO HEAD DIRECTLY INTO THE WORKFORCE OR GET A CAREER CERTIFICATION LIKE OWEN’S CLASSMATE, KEYARA KILLEBREW. I ALWAYS HAVE LOVED ANIMALS. A SCULPTOR, KEYARA RECENTLY SHIFTED HER FOCUS TO CARING FOR ANIMALS WITH A PLAN TO MAKE THAT HER LIFE’S WORK. I’M GOING TO THE VET TECH INSTITUTION TO GET MY ASSOCIATE’S DEGREE, AND THEN AFTER THAT TO HOPEFULLY JUST JUMP RIGHT INTO THE VETERINARY FIELD AND GET INTO THE WORKFORCE. BOTH KEYARA AND OWEN ATTEND A CAREER ORIENTED PROGRAM AT THEIR HIGH SCHOOL, THE KOKOMO AREA CAREER CENTER. IN THE MORNING, THEY GO TO TRADITIONAL CLASSES, BUT IN THE AFTERNOON THEIR STUDIES FOCUS ON TECHNICAL EDUCATION. PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS VOCATIONAL SCHOOL. IT’S SUCH A GOOD KITTY. JONATHAN SCHUCK IS THE DIRECTOR AT CCAC. GOOD MORNING. I THINK THESE KIDS ARE QUESTIONING A LOT OF THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, OPTIONS FOR THEMSELVES AND YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE RIGHT PATH FOR THEM. YOU KNOW, DO THEY WANT TO GO TO A TRADITIONAL FOUR YEAR COLLEGE, WHICH POSSIBLY CAN LEAD TO A LOT OF COLLEGE DEBT? AND I THINK THE KIDS ARE LOOKING AT THIS AND GOING, OKAY, WHAT IS RIGHT FOR ME AND FOR MY PASSIONS AND WHAT I WANT TO DO AND WHERE IS IT GOING TO LEAD FOR ME IN THE DECADE SCHUCK RUN, RUN THE PROGRAM ENROLLMENT AVERAGES ABOUT 1300 STUDENTS A YEAR. BUT RECENTLY, HE SAYS, MORE KIDS ARE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED FOLLOWING THIS PATH AFTER GRADUATION. I THINK THE KIDS THAT COME HERE ARE REALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT BEING HERE. THEY’VE ACTUALLY CHOSEN TO WANT TO BE HERE. AND I THINK A LOT OF THEM, IT REALLY HELPS THEM IN THEIR EDUCATION IN REGARDS TO BEING SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE OF THE SUCCESS THEY FIND HERE. GOOD. VERY GOOD FOR SOME PEOPLE. THEY GO TO COLLEGE FOR THAT FOUR YEARS AND THEN THEY JUST THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. AND THEN THEY THEY STRUGGLE FOR LIKE 2 OR 3 YEARS, LIKE TRYING TO FIND A JOB. AND I JUST WANT TO GET IN AND OUT. WHO’S MY LEFT GUARD? ME. I AM A LITTLE CONCERNED ABOUT NOT HAVING A COLLEGE DEGREE, BUT THE FINANCIAL SIDE OF IT, THAT’S DEFINITELY A HUGE BONE. S JUST BECAUSE, I MEAN, THERE’S NOT AS MUCH DEBT AND I MEAN, I’LL BE MAKING A PRETTY DECENT AMOUNT OF MONEY. OWEN HOPES STARTING HIS CAREER NOW WILL GET HIM CLOSER TO SOME OF HIS OTHER GOALS, LIKE AN EARLY RETIREMENT. AS FOR KEYARA, SHE’S CONSIDERING BECOMING A ZOOLOGIST, WHICH WOULD MEAN EVENTUALLY GOING BACK TO SCHOOL. BUT FOR NOW, THIS IS HOW THEIR ADULT LIVES BEGIN. IN KOKOMO,