作者： Syou.Ryu

College isn’t for everyone, and as student loan debt reached $1.77 trillion in the third quarter of 2024, more people are questioning whether or not to pursue higher education. A May 2024 report from the Pew Research Center found that only 22% of Americans believe college is worthwhile even if it means taking out student loans. About half—49%—also say a bachelor’s degree is less important when it comes to getting a high-paying job than it was 20 years ago.

While lifetime earnings for those with a bachelor’s degree are typically higher than for those with just a high school diploma, people who don’t graduate college can make a good living. A little over half of workers nationwide don’t have a college degree, and there are many high-paying jobs for them to choose from. A November 2024 report from American Student Assistance shows that roughly 2 million non-degree workers make six figures, and the earning potential increases significantly with time. Restaurant hosts, for example, make more than $80,000 annually on average after 20 years in the field.

To explore other high-earning, non-degree careers, Stacker used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to find the 50 highest-paying jobs out of nearly 500 that don’t require a college degree. Jobs are ranked by annual wages; those without annual wages available were not considered. Other experience and training requirements, as well as employment levels and projections, were also included in the analysis but don’t affect the rankings.

College enrollment has dropped off in the last few years after a historic high, partially thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are among those who aren’t sure if college is the best fit for you, whether due to the cost or other factors, you can rest easy knowing there are plenty of career paths available.

Whether you want a technical and mechanical career in repairs or to supervise a retail shop, there are many options for noncollege graduates. Just keep in mind that some of the careers listed here require other forms of education or licensure, including specialized training programs or apprenticeships.

Southern California’s expensive housing market is going to get a lot more competitive after deadly firestorms torched more than 12,000 homes and other structures in the Los Angeles area, leaving tens of thousands of people without a place to stay.

Already there are reports of rent-gouging, prompting elected leaders to issue stern warnings against the practice and pleading with the public to report unethical property owners who hike up rents above the allotted 10% cap.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement Saturday that it is illegal for landlords to accept rent that exceeds the cap, even if someone is offering to pay a higher amount.

“You cannot jack up prices and take advantage of disaster victims, plain and simple,” he said at a news conference.  Continue reading

A modern three-bedroom condo in a downtown LA high-rise, for example, that was offered at $5,500 a month in October popped back up on Zillow this week with a new asking rent of $8,500. On Saturday, the listing was removed.

The entire state has struggled with the twin crises of housing and homelessness, only recently starting to make inroads to build more affordable homes.

TikTok blocked access to American users late Saturday night, just hours before a law banning the popular video-sharing platform was set to go into effect. 

“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” a message reads when American users open the app.

“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” 

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As of 11 p.m. ET Saturday, TikTok appeared to be unavailable for new downloads on Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store – two of the most popular distributors for the video sharing platform.

It comes after days of speculation and confusion over the platform’s future.  

The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the divest-or-ban law, which gave TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance until Sunday to divest from the app.   

The Biden administration said Friday that it did not plan to enforce the law and would instead leave its implementation to the incoming Trump administration.   

Later in the day, TikTok clarified it planned to “go dark” until President Biden stepped in, claiming the White House and Justice Department did not provide the “necessary clarity and assurance to the serviced providers.”

The White House called TikTok’s statement a “stunt,” on Saturday, claiming the app did not have to take action before Trump is sworn in on Monday.   

Trump said Saturday that he would most likely give TikTok a 90-day extension.   

“The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully,” Trump said in a call with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “It’s a very big situation.”  

SpaceX conducted the seventh flight test of its Starship launch vehicle on Thursday, which the company called “the most capable” Starship yet — and the only fully reusable one.

It was a mixed bag for the aerospace giant, however, as they successfully caught the first stage booster upon its return to Earth, but lost communications with the Starship as it broke up while heading into space.

The more than 400-foot rocket, powered by 33 Raptor engines, appeared to lift off successfully at 4:37 p.m. CT from SpaceX’s launchpad at its Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas.

But minutes into the mission, ground control announced during a live stream of the mission that it had lost all communications with the ship.

The company said they lost several engines and telemetry and that the ship had been lost.

There were no astronauts on board the test flight mission.

SpaceX added that the rocket used Thursday is a new version of the Starship.

While the Starship is lost, the super heavy first-stage booster successfully executed a controlled descent back to the launch tower, where it was caught by the launch tower’s giant robotic arms. This is considered one of the most challenging aspects of the mission.

Thursday’s feat marked the second time that SpaceX has been able to return and catch the stage booster using the launch tower.

Following the loss of the spacecraft, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) briefly announced it was slowing flights in and around Florida due to the possibility of falling debris from the SpaceX launch.

Footage of debris falling from the sky was seen over the Turks and Caicos Islands on Thursday.

MORE: NASA, SpaceX launch capsule to bring home Starliner astronauts

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took social media on Thursday to address the launch, saying that an oxygen or fuel leak in the cavity could have occurred above the ship engine firewall.

“Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity,” Musk wrote on X.

“Apart from obviously double-checking for leaks, we will add fire suppression to that volume and probably increase vent area,” Musk added.

He indicted that so far none of the company’s findings would have them push the next launch past next month.

Sharing a video of the debris falling, Musk wrote, “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”

Despite the loss, SpaceX has high hopes for the future of the Starship spacecraft. Unlike the Falcon 9 rocket, which has been used for years to carry satellites and astronauts to orbit with a partially reusable design, SpaceX says Starship will be fully reusable and will eventually include a heat shield that can be rapidly redeployed without significant refurbishing.

SpaceX says Starship can carry larger payloads, such as satellites and cargo, than other launch vehicles and can support long-duration missions to the Moon and potentially Mars.

Additionally, the company says the launch system will eventually be capable of carrying up to 100 people on long-duration interplanetary flights.

SpaceX says the test flight introduced a redesigned upper stage with enhancements such as an improved heat shield, increased propellant capacity and updated avionics.

The company says the updates will improve the vehicle’s reliability and enable longer more complex missions.

During the mission, which has now been scrapped, the spacecraft planned to deploy 10 Starlink satellite simulators for the first time, testing its ability to deliver payloads in space.MORE: NASA astronaut who had ‘medical issue’ released from hospital

The simulators were set to be placed on a suborbital trajectory, with splashdown planned in the Indian Ocean.

The mission was planning to test new materials and design changes to enhance the spacecraft’s heat resistance during reentry.

Ahead of the launch, the company said it purposely removed heat tiles to test the vehicle’s heat resiliency.

SpaceX was planning to use the data from the test flight to refine the design for future missions.