There is a moment every parent eventually faces. It usually happens sometime during a child’s junior or senior year of high school. College brochures begin showing up in the mail. Guidance counselors talk about applications, FAFSA forms, and campus visits. Conversations at the dinner table turn toward majors, dorm rooms, and life after graduation. For many parents, this moment brings a mixture of pride and quiet anxiety. We want our children to succeed. We want them to find work they enjoy. Most of all, we want them to be financially secure and able to build a stable life.
For decades, the message to parents and students has been simple: go to college.
But the world our kids are stepping into is changing faster than most of us realize. Artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape the workforce in ways that economists and labor experts are still trying to understand. A study conducted by researchers from OpenAI found that approximately 80 percent of the U.S. workforce could see at least 10 percent of their work tasks affected by artificial intelligence technologies such as large language models, while nearly 19 percent of workers could see half of their tasks impacted. In practical terms, that means many of the white-collar careers students are currently pursuing may look very different just a few years after they graduate.
A separate report from the World Economic Forum titled “Future of Jobs Report 2025” found that roughly 41 percent of employers worldwide plan to reduce their workforce as artificial intelligence expands automation in office-based roles such as administrative work, research analysis, and customer service.
As parents, that reality forces us to ask a difficult question: are we guiding our kids toward careers that will still be stable and rewarding ten or twenty years from now?
At the same time, college has become significantly more expensive. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s 2023 Household Debt Report, the average student loan balance for borrowers in the United States is approximately $37,000. Many graduates spend years—sometimes decades—paying down those loans while just beginning their careers.
Imagine two Nebraska students graduating high school at the same time.
One chooses a traditional four-year college path. Over the next four years they attend classes, accumulate tuition bills, and graduate with student loan debt. The second student enters a skilled trade apprenticeship—perhaps in electrical work, plumbing, or HVAC. Instead of paying tuition, they earn wages while learning their profession. Four years later, the college graduate is entering the workforce with debt and looking for their first full-time job. The apprentice, meanwhile, may already have four years of work experience, little to no debt, and a solid paycheck.
That is not meant to diminish the value of college. Many professions absolutely require it. But it does highlight something parents often overlook: the trades offer a path to financial stability that many young people—and their families—simply have not been encouraged to consider.
Television host and skilled-trades advocate Mike Rowe has been speaking about this issue for years. In interviews and public appearances, Rowe often points out that the United States has spent decades telling young people that a four-year degree is the only respectable path forward. As Rowe famously said during testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in 2014, “We’ve been telling kids for 40 years they’re screwed if they don’t get a four-year degree. Meanwhile, the trades are crying out for skilled workers.”
What makes that statement even more relevant today is that skilled trades are among the careers least likely to be replaced by artificial intelligence. A computer program may eventually draft legal documents, analyze spreadsheets, or generate marketing reports. But it cannot climb a ladder in an Alliance winter storm to repair a transformer. It cannot rewire a hospital, install electrical service in a new home, or troubleshoot equipment on a ranch. Those jobs require skilled human hands.
And the demand for those hands is growing.
According to employment projections from the Nebraska Department of Labor in its publication “Nebraska Labor Market Trends” (March 2023), employment for electricians in Nebraska is expected to grow by approximately 15.6 percent between 2020 and 2030. This growth is driven by expanding construction, infrastructure upgrades, renewable energy projects, and the retirement of experienced tradespeople. Nationally, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 81,000 electrician job openings each year throughout the decade due to growth and workforce turnover.
For parents concerned about their child’s long-term stability, those numbers matter. Because at the heart of this conversation is something deeply personal. Parents are not just choosing a school. They are trying to help their children build a life that includes security, purpose, and dignity in their work. Some students truly thrive in academic environments and should absolutely pursue college degrees that align with their talents. But others are natural builders, problem-solvers, and hands-on learners. They find satisfaction in creating something tangible at the end of the day. For those students, the skilled trades should not be seen as a backup plan if college does not work out. They should be viewed as a first-class career path.
As parents across our state help their high school juniors and seniors consider their futures, it may be time to widen the conversation. Instead of asking only which college our kids will attend, perhaps we should begin by asking a more important question. What kind of work will allow them to build a stable, fulfilling life in Nebraska? For many young people, the answer may not be found in a WNCC lecture hall. It may be found with a tool belt, a set of skills that cannot be automated, and a career that quite literally powers the Nebraska communities we call home.