Wanna know why everyone is rushing to get a college degree?
THIS is why:
#1 reason why college is practically REQUIRED for everyone:
Competitive
advantage.
That is an interesting article. My feeling is that we can improve writing skills by taking it out of the English classroom and spreading it out across the entire high school curriculum, even in math and science classes. Requiring writing across the disciplines can teach students that writing has purpose; it’s not just something that English teachers teach so students can pass the state assessment test. A science or math class can teach the basics of technical writing; a social studies class can teach non-fiction sources and non-fiction writing; and an art or music class can teach criticism.
I know several people who work for airlines (through my best friend from high school), none of them have college degrees and all of them consider getting one a waste of time and money if you want to work in their fields. According to them it’s cheaper, faster, and smarter to start working at a lower position and get promoted/take the proper courses to get on a different track, once workign for the company you want to.
So this friend has been a flight attendant for 4 years now. He turned 18, graduated high school, went and got a desk job at the airport, worked at the airport two years getting promoted to several different positions, than took and passed his FA courses with Southwest as soon as he turned 20 and was allowed. 
Instead of spending money (he would have had to go into debt) to get a communications degree, he was making and saving money for those two years as well as learning what it was like to deal with airline customers, and other valuable things. To me this is obviously the smarter choice.