A short history or job training in the United States:

We used to have apprenticeships for most every trade, but after the industrial revolution unions and business leaders made a kind of compromise. Result:

Eliminate apprenticeships and put vocational training in High Schools.

Meanwhile, the university system considered itself largely a finishing school for the elite and wealthy leaders of society, and not a fit for job preparation, especially for blue collar jobs.

When vocational training in high schools generally failed, instead of dividing the university system and vocational in two, colleges and universities flexed their political muscle to effectively push vocational training for white collar jobs to *after* the university by law.

The same system exists widely today, in what we know as the “undergraduate” and “graduate” tracks.

In most industries it’s so wound into licensing and accreditation that students are looking at 6-8 years of college as the only way to get the 1-3 years of necessary job training.

In many other countries there wasn’t nearly the level of grift. No one is surprised that you can become an engineer in Switzerland with a couple years of apprenticeship and no degree.

Instead of going deeply into debt you start getting paid day one, and save years vs Americans.