There is a longstanding, widely held belief that the best chance at a better future is to go off to college – especially for people from marginalized communities.

Whether it was your teacher, general political rhetoric, or one of many sitcoms that reflect middle class American life, the message was to go to school or risk failure — dismissing millions of people who decided not to go to college and created viable, sustainable careers in trade professions, from manufacturing and welding to plumbing and software engineering.

And now, as college costs continue to rise and more people want to develop a sense of financial stability, education and careers in the trades through vocational schools are becoming not only more accepted, but also encouraged across all factors of society. 

In our latest episode, host Kai Wright talks to ​​Maya Bhattacharjee-Marcantonio, co-founder of The Marcy Lab School in Brooklyn, New York, and Eric Kelderman, a senior writer at the Chronicle of Higher Education about the shifting cultural cachet around earning a 4-year college degree. We talk about what motivates some students to pursue vocational education, what this change might mean long-term for Americans across demographics, and why some still prefer a professional path that includes college.

Support of WNYC’s coverage of economic mobility and opportunity is provided in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information about how the Gates Foundation supports economic mobility and opportunity, visit usprogram.gatesfoundation.org.

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Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.