College Enrollment Is Collapsing for a Reason

Episode 11 • 1st May 2026 • Built in the Midwest • Midwest Truck Driving School

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Nine years ago, the average truck driving school student was 50. Today, they're 18-20. Why are high schoolers and career changers walking away from college and choosing skilled trades careers — truck driving, lineman work, heavy equipment operation — instead?

In Episode 11 of Built in the Midwest, we sit down with Kyle Barron, Director of Admissions at Midwest Truck Driving School and North Country Heavy Equipment and Electrical Line School.

After nearly a decade across the desk from prospective students, Kyle has watched the demographic shift firsthand — the rise of trade school enrollment among young adults, the parents calling about gap year plans, and the 4.0 high school graduate who can't find a job. This is the skills gap conversation from someone who lives it every day.

We get into:

- Why a four-year college degree no longer guarantees employment

- The truth about underemployment among recent college graduates

- What kinesthetic learners need (and why traditional classrooms fail them)

- Why the trades are a viable career path for career changers in their 30s, 40s, and 50s

- The case against the couch-and-beach gap year — and what to do instead

- How to evaluate trade school programs in the Midwest

- The real ROI of starting a blue-collar career vs. taking on student loan debt

If you're a high school student weighing college vs. trade school, a parent helping a teenager think through career options, a career changer considering a fresh start, or an employer trying to understand where the next generation of skilled workers is coming from — this conversation is for you.