Gen Z rethinks education: The rise of skilled trades over traditional college in the US

LaDonna Glass, 23, who decided to pursue an apprenticeship as an electrician after one year at Mississippi State University, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on June 25. PHOTO: ANDREA MORALES/NYTIMESCallie HoltermannPublished Jul 26, 2026, 10:05 AMUpdated Jul 26, 2026, 10:23 AMJONESBORO, Arkansas – At the edge of a parking lot in the Arkansas Delta, LaDonna Glass slipped off her work boots and exchanged them for a pair of rainbow Crocs.Glass, 23, had just finished her shift as an electrician apprentice in a veterinary school building across the lot. She snaked conduits among electrical boxes and installed wall sockets in an operating room big enough for a horse.See more on