I'm sorry for always whining & complaining, but I HAVE to say this.
Public schools are completely terrible. I went to a 'good' one & absolutely hated it. When I reflect on it now, I can see all the problems. I'm sure private schools have their own share of issues, but the reality is during your developmental years, you want to be put in a good spot or you'll be in trouble the rest of your life.
4 year universites aren't much better. You can learn everything they teach you online or in a library. They don't teach you anything relevant to what you want to do. Half of it is just a repeat of high school but a little faster & maybe a little different spin on it depending on the subject. It's time to reject 4 year universites. I liked my time at university better than high school, but it still wasn't great. I liked the independence of course, but I would never encourage anyone to go to a 4 year university unless they want to become a Doctor or Lawyer, for example. Other professions like Teaching aren't worth it paywise & 'fun' professions can be very competitive.
I'd encourage everyone to get a 2 years Associates at their local community college & go from there, gaining work XP as much as you can, trying to move up the ranks as quick as you can, doing a bit of job jumping from job to job, department to department, industry to industry, etc. If you really need a Bachelor's, the door will open. Work experience is more valuable, that's what employers want.
And you're starting to see this. Most universities are struggling now outside of the big state flagships & some of the more wealthy private colleges. The other schools are simply raising tuition, so the value of your degree is going down but you're paying more for it. A lot of people think it's only a matter of time before more of the smaller public's start consolidating, & some privates are closing too. These schools are absolutely bloated. But instead of cutting back, they only spend more, & that means raising tuition more. They're killing themselves. It's a total bubble waiting to pop but probably won't b/c somehow they never seem to run out of $$$ even tho these schools get deeper & deeper into debt.
Plus I know a lot of grads who graduated & then expect to make 6 figures out of the gate after they graduate. They expect to be upper tier boss. I try telling them you have to work your way up, even w/ a degree, but they refuse that. I understand money can be hard, but there's ways to make it. Show up, do your stuff, do it good, & in a few years you'll be making better money. Instead they complain everything is rigged against them.