Schoolie - Yes and no.
Yes, I agree it's hard at 18-19 to make a decision about what you want to do for the rest of your life. And you'd certainly like to be having "fun" (defined anyway you'd like) instead of being in a class room.
No, in that what would someone do otherwise? If we say wait a couple of years first then that person has to do something in the mean time. They can't bum around (no names mentioned
), have to get a job (ah-hem), and probably can't live at home any more (*cough*, *cough*). So what are they qualified to do? Or even qualified for entry level? As much as an 18-19 y/o may not be eager to be in a class room I'm sure the idea of working in Burger King for a couple of years is less appealing. A few may do some service in the military but not many.
Then there's also the rythm loss. At least going from HS to college you're still in the rythm of school. It's very hard to get back into the rythm of school if you've been out for sometime.
And then there's the matter of life going on. Very likely many of those young people will get married and start having kids in the next few years. Bye bye any thought of college! (for the most part anyway). Most parents either send or at least provide a good portion of the money to pay for college so that helps the kids too.
I agree it's an imperfect solution, but I think if you did a statisical study you'd see those who go straight on to complete a 4 year degree vs. those who take some time off first, the former are better off in the intermediate and longer term than the latter.