I think anything short of pushing your kid to go to college is failing them. Yeah, yeah there has to be people to do other things that might not require a degree, doesn't mean you tell them that, rarely ever is that that they aspire to be growing up as a kid - it's what's available and what they fall into for most IMO. I'd never in a million years tell a kid of mine to not go after big things or to settle, them not going to college would be unacceptable. Higher education is becoming less of a choice and more of a requirement, it's also one of the few true ways to better yourself and make things in life easier. The majority of my class went to college and most of them are doing just fine there right now, this isn't the 60's/70's/80's, more kids see how important it is in highschool and others are hit by reality after they graduate then go. That's why parents should do absolutely nothing but drill into their kids how important education and college is.