> The problem is that there was a generation of students (myself included) that thought a university education led to a well-paying job. I know how incredibly naive that sounds

I hear this all the time from people in their 20s and early 30s, earnestly complaining that they were tricked into believing this, and I think it's somewhat true.

But at the same time, I got my double major in Philosophy (primary was Computer Science), so I know that if you major in Philosophy (or Art, or Sociology, or--this will really get them going--Gender Studies), there will be people crawling out of the woodwork and lining up to tell you your degree is useless and that you should study engineering.

After seeing Yet Another Non-CS Major Software Engineer, I recently joked that we should send a letter to all Freshman and tell them "Just study CS--it's what you're going to end up doing anyway."

My coworker, a software engineer with an art degree, turned to me and said "UT sent me that letter when I started college. I ignored it."

So....we're sending mixed signals to teens. I think you're right that it's starting to turn around and get less mixed. More pro-trade school stuff is appearing on Facebook, for one (though maybe it's that my friend group is shifting).