Hmm. Interesting idea. I wonder if that's true, that college will disappear or be free in a couple years. The idea that you need a college degree to succeed is just so very embedded in our society. Not to mention the immense wealth that colleges have

The thing that's hard to fight is that the "what else" is unstructured. In the US, for kids that are maybe in the top 10 or 25% academically, it's very rare for these kids not do go to college. (If you know otherwise, please let me know).

There's no well-trodden path, if you choose not to go college. I asked in previous posts (thanks k00b for reminding me) about some options, and of course they're out there.

What are some solid alternatives to college/university? Alternatives to university?

There's a lot of thing you can do (as mentioned in the previous posts), like technical college, get a job, start a business, travel/work, etc.

It's just hard doing something that's not the standard college path (i.e what all your friends and classmates are doing).