In this country, some truths aren't self-evident.

And NPR's Black Stories Black Truths, a collection of stories as wide-ranging and real

is the people who tell them, we celebrate the black experience for all its soul and richness.

Search NPR Black Stories, Black Truths, wherever you get podcasts. podcast. The price tag of a four-year college tuition is 23 times higher than it was in 1963,

according to the Education Data Initiative.

And the job market is increasingly unstable for white-collar jobs, but there is growth in the market.

It's being led by demand for skilled laborers.

So a new batch of workers are going another route, technical school. Students enrolled in vocational focused

community colleges increased 16% from 2022 to 2023, that's according to the National

Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Vocational programs are filling up.

One technical college in Florida says almost all their programs are close to capacity.

We'll hear from the director of that college in a moment.

And in Maine, enrollment in career and technical schools passed 10,000 students statewide for the first time.

Younger generations are seeing the value of going into the skilled trades.

It's something many of you have experienced with as well.

I just started to get to trade school to get my LVN in Texas and it only costs about $5,000 and took a year. I wasn't entirely sure I would

like the career so it was not a huge investment in terms of time or money.

And 15 years later, I still love it.

Hi, my name is Mac McGarry and I'm in from Flagstaff, Arizona.

I went to trade school, I went and got a two-year degree in electronics. I had a great career working on

ventilators and all sorts of respiratory equipment with a simple two-year degree at a time I had a company car

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