Transcript of More young people are choosing trades over going to college

This minus this. For teams across the country, weighing colleges and careers, a path on which many had long cooled is suddenly white hot once again, as more of America's youngest workers take to the trades. At Wisconsin School of Technologies and Trades at Madison College, recent high school grads are filling classes and waitlist in construction, electric, plumbing, and welding. Nationwide, the number of 20 to 24 18-year-olds entering the trades is soaring, doubling among electricians and HVAC mechanics in the last decade. Some have called Gen Z the tool belt generation. Does that ring true to you guys?

Yeah, I would say so. You almost fall in love with it.

Eighteen-year-old welding students, Ethan Dalhoff and Grayson Chambis, had both been accepted to four-year schools but changed course.

I just decided I want to work. I don't want to be in debt.

You don't want to be in debt. Measure out an inch. Instructors say that's a driving force, with more than half of American college students today graduating with debt, close to $29,000 on average.

Like the salary to debt ratio between me and people my age. I mean, we can have what they owe.

We can have what they owe. Yeah. Welding program director, Tony Studi, says this track is an easy sell.

You want to make $50,000? Can you afford to borrow $6,000 to come here for a year.

You just see their little teenage eyes light up. Oh, yeah.

And the parents, too. Yeah.

What do parents say? Yeah.

They're like, That's more than I make.

That reality drawing more women and people of color. Today. Many on social media, we're Rades influencers showcase a hands-on career more alluring than classroom learning to even top students.

Historically, there's been a bit of a stigma attached to jobs in the trades. Maybe kids that were getting into trouble or didn't have a good academic record. Now, that's not necessarily the case. It's not looked down upon as a career path.

An old path made new again by a generation forging their own future. Maggie Vespup, NBC News, Madison, Wisconsin.

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