[jmastrangelo]

Isn't more the opposite? In Europe (well at least Germany, Europe is big) don't students get split up between a vocational track and university track pretty early in their educations? Even going to different kinds of high schools. Then for the university track people education is free but few vocational trackers end up going to university at all?

Students in the US can only go in the institutions that admit them, but the vast majority of students can get admitted to their state school and get a decent degree.

I agree tradesman are looked down upon by degreed workers, but thats more based around having/not having an education, not the pipeline that leads people there. (Also money talks in the US, and plenty of tradespeople make way more than those with useless degrees, and therefore end up with a good social standing later in life)