> One thing you and the OP are not accounting for is social status and flexibility.
I did account for that. I said that I think it is time for a "cultural shift." That social status and flexibility element exists because of cultural attitudes and assumptions as to the value of a degree.
> Also choosing to forsake a degree just plain blocks off a lot of paths.
Not to get too philosophical, but every single decision you ever make in your entire life is going to "block off paths." If I eat pizza tonight, I am working against my weight management goals. If I dedicate my time and my life to learning to code, I am not using that time to learn medicine.
If you decide you want to go down a new path, then of course starting from scratch is going to take longer. But that is true of literally any endeavour. To me it does not make any sense to start putting in the time, money and energy into a venture in order to get yourself a "head start" down a path that you may never choose to walk down. Life is way too short to make that kind of a gamble unless you KNOW that there is an excellent chance you may want to pursue that. If you think that right now, at this stage in life, there is a 10% chance that you might want to pursue a profession that requires a degree at some point in the future, why invest 4 years of your life and an entire house worth of future income? If, however, there is a 60% chance ... then the value prospect looks quite different.
As someone else said, it is a lot to ask of a 17, 18, 19 year-old to make these kinds of major life decisions. But I think that's an argument in favour of a culture shift. If you choose to spend 4 years and a ton of money you don't have pursuing a particular education path, that is time and money that you will never get back. Only the individual can decide if that was time and money well invested.
So, what if you want to switch from landscaper to doctor? Well, what if you invest 10 years and a ridiculous amount of money into becoming a doctor only to realize that you hate it, made a mistake but need to figure out how to pay off $200k in student debt before you can even begin to entertain a career change? That's one hell of a "blocking off paths" scenario as well. Crippling debt and an unused piece of paper to show for it can be devastating in terms of closed doors. Imagine what you could accomplish in your mid 20's if you're debt free and are pursuing your passions regardless of how other people think you should be living your life?
Who knew that major life decisions could be so complicated?