But why not just "shut", if there are no actual shutters?

In this context, "college" includes vocational training, which includes tuition, tools, etc, which must be paid for, along with housing, transport, etc. And not everyone can do this, since there is only so much demand for these skills.

Why do journalists write "shuttered" instead of "shut" in stories like these? As far as I can tell, no store closings involve actual shutters.

It has nothing to do with Boomers though ;)

I was more replying to the bit about being "confused". The USA tradition is for kids to get the hell out of the house ASAP, some parents even kick them out at 18, and ideally never go back. Doing so is seen as a failure.

You mean the water thing? I ripped it off David Foster Wallace's "This is water" speech.

That's the Caribbean. This discussion is about the USA.

I think all Boomers should be made to look at all the Old Economy Steve memes, a la Clockwork Orange. Not even kidding.

Won't they get Medicare at 65, and won't that substantially reduce their medical bills?

Funny how what Boomers took for granted - cheap tuition, good jobs with benefits and pensions, houses, cars, vacations, new clothes - are symptoms of entitlement issues when GenX and Millenials want them. I don't think Boomers know what "entitled" means, like a fish doesn't know what water is.

I really hate the one-star limit when I see a comment like this.

As it happens, I'm Canadian :)

How do you "do other things you care about" when you have a bad job? Where does the time and money to do those things come from?

But they're not leaving:

Don't you need a good job to have a good life though?

Doublespeak.

There is a lot to unpack in your comment. 1) The people you talk to are just a tiny fraction of the millions experiencing these problems, and very unlikely to be representative. 2) Technical/community college is still college, and it's got to be paid for somehow, so unless one's family can pay, student loans will be…

For long time it was assumed that the Boomers would retire and a lot of jobs for younger generations would open up. Now we know the Boomers all plan to keep on working way past 65. (To 75? 80? Can you imagine a workplace with lots of 70- and 80-somethings?) Since the youngest Boomers are just 50 this year, we are…

I would lie down on that spot of grass and sleep with the puppy all afternoon.

"I just wish college kids (and parents) were a little more cost conscious about their decision"