The data don't bear this out. Over a career, people with college degrees earn more than those without. Until and unless this changes, people are making the right choice going to college.
Caveats: it does need to be more widely communicated that getting into a college that costs $50k/year is a luxury good that not everyone will be able to afford. And the corollary: we need to resume amply funding our public institutions.
So, for instance, how does a tradesman compare? The median income for somebody with a BS, employed full time, is $69k [1]. The median income for a plumber is $60k. [2] That's already pretty close, especially once you factor in 4 years of extra earnings vs 6 figures of debt. The BS may overcome the hole relatively late in their career, but again - it's close. However, there's a big catch: those numbers included STEM degrees. Remove STEM degrees and this isn't even close anymore.
I'm not arguing everybody should be a plumber, or anything of the sort. I am saying that college is a decision that should not be taken lightly, especially if somebody is not going to pursue STEM.
[1] - https://www.bls.gov/emp/chart-unemployment-earnings-educatio...
[2] - https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/plumbers...
I know you're not arguing for everyone to become a plumber, so you should state that the chart you cite shows that high school diploma holders have a median income of $42k, or $27k less annually than those with a BS. Your data is showing why people go to college.
(All of this is before one accounts for the ability of BS-holders to move up to the higher rungs on the chart; most professional degrees require an undergraduate degree. If a 28-year-old has a BS and gets tired of his profession, he can go to e.g. law school or whatever and potentially earn more as well.)
Oh neat thing on the law school comment. You don't actually need to go to law school, or school at all, to become a lawyer in some states, including California! In California one "just" needs to go through a legal apprenticeship program, and then pass the Bar. Just is in quotes there for good reason, but I think the world, particularly in education, is changing far more rapidly than we realize. Especially given the era of the internet, costly accreditation as opposed to skill tests (ideally with some apprenticeship component), just doesn't make any sense anymore.
