If you didn’t get your fill learning about college enrollment patterns at schools across America this past week by watching Ivy Coach on NewsNation’s Rush Hour, Ivy Coach was back at it discussing a tale of two different kinds of colleges — the highly selective ones and, well, the rest — on NewsNation’s Morning in America. You see, while our college admissions blog focuses on the highly selective universities in our nation, there are in fact over 900 colleges in the United States. And while applications are skyrocketing and admission rates are getting lower and lower at our nation’s highly selective universities, most colleges across our nation struggle to enroll applicants.

When asked what these other colleges — the vast majority of schools — can do to attract applicants, Ivy Coach’s Brian Taylor said rather candidly, “I don’t know what those schools can do. I don’t think they’re that enticing. When a degree from these school isn’t really worth the paper it’s written on…but for those other schools, they’re not trying to draw students in. They’re trying to draw students to apply because the more students who apply, the lower their admission rate will be, and the higher they’ll be ranked in the all-important US News & World Report ranking. But for those colleges that struggle to enroll applicants? Maybe their day has passed.”

It may surprise our readers to know that we don’t believe everyone should go to college. And we don’t believe that every college is worthwhile. Why pay thousands and thousands of dollars to earn a degree in Russian literature from a college that isn’t going to help differentiate a young person on the job market? It sounds to us more like a Ponzi scheme. Instead, wouldn’t it better serve these young people to attend trade schools so they can learn skills that will actually serve them will in their careers? But, Ivy Coach, are you suggesting that it’s either attend a highly selective school or go to trade school? Well, yes. Or join the workforce outright, enlist in the military, etc. Our point is that we agree that most colleges are a total waste of money. But America’s elite colleges? They’re worth every penny. The friendships forged at these institutions, the connections on the job market, the exposure to some of the greatest minds around the world…now that’s a differentiator.