Bianca Miller was one of them.
Initially, she enrolled in a four-year program, hoping to build a career working with machines and engines. But as classes piled up, she started to feel disconnected from her dream.
“I was studying mechanical engineering and I didn’t like the fact that half of my classes didn’t relate to the actual career that I wanted to get into,” Miller told Fortune. “I was disappointed by that.”
Even students who stuck it out didn’t seem much better off. She said even some of the brightest mechanical engineering students she knew struggled to find work, sometimes not even landing unpaid internships.
“The opportunities are endless,” Miller said. “At the end of the day, there really is no wrong.”
As postpandemic travel continues to rebound, the aviation industry is booming. Meanwhile, aging aircraft fleets and a wave of retirements have created an urgent demand for new technicians.
“[Trade school] is just not talked about enough. It’s not presented as an idea because of how we were raised. It’s you go to college—trade school is not really an option,” Miller said. “But the job market is great.”
