Justin Bonilla knew he wanted to be a hairstylist when he was 4 years old, reading Cosmopolitan magazine behind the reception desk of his mother’s salon.

But instead of beauty school, he said, his parents made him attend New York University.

“Like everyone else, I was brainwashed into going to college because that’s the only way to make a life for yourself, apparently,” Bonilla, 41, said. “[That’s] apparently wrong.”

After graduating with a degree in marketing and business administration, Bonilla said, he paid out of pocket to attend Long Island Beauty School in Hauppauge. Now he owns his own salon, Just In Style NY, in Albertson. Rather than seeing hairstyling as a “fallback career,” he believes it is “one of the most dynamic and financially viable professions you can choose.”

Bonilla’s perspective reflects a growing trend on Long Island as trade schools in the region see increased enrollment. This uptick in interest comes amid growing concern from young adults about job security, financial prospects and the impacts of artificial intelligence on the job market.

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Long Island trade schools like Nassau and Eastern Suffolk BOCES offer a range of courses, such as animal science, cosmetology and construction trades. Trade school administrators look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine which industries are seeing growth on Long Island and build new programs to train students for those trades. Barry Tech, a Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services trade school, is introducing an advanced manufacturing program this year, which is partially funded by the U.S. Navy.

“[The Navy is] investing into this area,” said Brad Slepian, the Nassau BOCES adult education supervisor. “They know this is a need, and we have a ton of manufacturers on the Island that people don’t necessarily know about.”

Nassau Community College has also recognized this shift, implementing its own trade program last year, which prepares students for apprenticeships.

“Lately we have been a little more aware of what’s going on locally, and there seems to be this turn back to the trades, because people in high school, if there’s this kind of skepticism if college is right for them, they're not coming in the first place,” said Justin Dolce, 44, of Bay Shore, senior director of workforce development at Nassau Community College.

Growing interest in LI trade programs

In the Commack and Sewanhaka school districts, interest in career and technical education programs has increased over the past five years, according to their administrators. As a result of this growing interest, BOCES administrators said, their high school programs have lengthy waiting lists.

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“There’s a renewed interest and a renewed appreciation for skilled labor because I think that people are realizing that those jobs are not going to go away,” said Diana Santiago, executive director of career and technical education at Western Suffolk BOCES.

Chris Denton, Commack’s CTE director, said when he began working in the district in 2021, there were about 300 students in its CTE program. Nearly 500 students are enrolled this year.

“I think families and students are becoming much more aware that success after high school does not have to follow a single path,” Denton said.

Connor Peters, a student attending the Eastern Suffolk BOCES summer exploration program, which introduces students to different trades, is already considering a future career in “underwater welding” or building bridges and skyscrapers.

“I’m not very good at sitting in a classroom. … I’d rather do something hands-on,” Peters, 14, of Blue Point, said.

Joseph Filipe DaCruz, 19, of East Meadow, is on a full scholarship in the electrician training program at GC Tech, a Nassau County trade school. When taking into account the competitive job market, DaCruz believes attending trade school makes it “easier to get a career.”

Young adults aiming to enter the workforce, like DaCruz, increasingly worry about job security and AI making their job obsolete, according to Slepian.

“You’re always going to need healthcare workers,” he said. “You’re always going to need auto mechanics, construction workers, even pet groomers and veterinary assistants. Those jobs aren’t going anywhere, and they’re also AI-proof.”

Shifting perception

Trade school administrators said they have seen a shift in the public perception of trade professions as Long Islanders begin to see these careers as more conventional.

Amid this shift, Santiago said, companies are re-evaluating the credentials necessary for employees in leadership roles.

“Historically, the perspective has been that if you wanted to go into any type of managerial or leadership position, that the degree would be required. I think that that is also changing,” she said.

Some schools have also changed how they label trade programs, which Denton said mirrors increased acceptance of these careers.

“A lot of the language has changed over time,” Denton said. “We are career and technical education, but not too long ago, we would have been referred to as vocational education, and that language has changed because outcomes, I think, have changed.”

Despite the rise in interest in trade schools, Andy Lockwood, a private college adviser, said some parents still don’t want to send their child to a trade school instead of a “traditional” four-year college.

“I think the resistance has to do with just kind of a snobbiness, or they turn their noses up at [it],” Lockwood said. “Quote unquote, they want better for their kids.”

Some professionals who attempted that traditional route realized firsthand that college isn’t for everyone.

Matthew Alexander, 47, of Merrick, runs his own private chef business, Sabor de Arte. After briefly attending two colleges, SUNY Cobleskill and Farmingdale State College, he came to the realization that it was not for him.

“I believe it’s an old-school mindset,” he said. “That’s just kind of what’s been implanted and embedded in our brains from when you’re young. You go to school for years, you slave away in school and it's almost guaranteed that you’re going to be successful.”

While the appeal of universities remains, Lockwood urges parents to consider trade school as an alternative. He said he has met with parents who run successful trade businesses and still insist on sending their kids away to college to be, he believes, “a cog in a machine” who could “possibly get laid off.”

“The people who are the most successful in life frequently didn’t even go to college at all,” he said. “The reason they’re successful has to do with their work ethic, their drive, their ability to get along with other people, their ability to provide something valuable … and those have nothing to do with where you go to college.”

Alexander and his wife, Karen Neira-Zompanis, 43, who runs her own hair salon, Salon Modus, both tried the college route and ended up in trade school, a decision they never regretted.

“I don’t have this big college degree and education, and I run a very successful business and I would change it for nothing in the world,” Alexander said. “If there’s people that knew how well I did and with all the freedom that I have, they would want to jump in my shoes in a heartbeat, versus having to go to a university for four years.”

Trade programs can offer high immediate return on investment

As of March, 41.5% of recent college graduates, ages 22-27, are filling roles that don’t typically require a college degree, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. An added pressure is that demand for those positions, such as credit authorizers, checkers, legal secretaries and administrative assistants, is projected to shrink between now and 2034 because of the adoption of AI, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects.

At Sprung Monuments, a headstone-making business in Lindenhurst, vice president of product development and marketing Rosaline Oviatte said trade schools can provide a faster return on investment.

“Trade school and getting into something where you have the potential to recover whatever investments you put into that trade school sooner is all the better,” Oviatte said.

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On Long Island, there is also a demand for younger skilled workers since the workforce is aging, making trade schools an encouraged option to invest in the economy, said Stacey Sikes, acting president and CEO of the Long Island Association, a nonprofit business advocacy group.

“We need these trained workers to help really build the foundation for economic growth, whether it be energy, housing or infrastructure. That is the foundation that our business community needs to be able to expand and create jobs,” Sikes said.

College degrees are still needed, Sikes added, but Long Island also needs people in the trades.

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Slepian said the financial viability of trade professions is a major appeal as Long Island residents are increasingly concerned about the cost of living. A June Newsday/Siena poll found 81% of Long Islanders are pessimistic about the ability of young residents to stay in the area.

Santiago commented on how quickly trade school students can work up to a higher salary.

“Some of our students are commanding salaries of $80,000 upon graduation, which is unheard of for an 18- to 19-year-old student who hasn’t pursued any higher education," Santiago said.

A hairstylist makes an average of $24.01 per hour in New York, and a barber earns an average of $29.45 per hour, according to Indeed's salary tracker. New York auto mechanics make an average of $27.89 per hour.

Among full-time working adults, four-year college graduates earn about 60% more than high school graduates over their lifetime, according to College Board. Salaries, it found, are heavily dependent on major; earnings for those early in their career (22- to 27-year-olds) range from about $44,000 for performing arts graduates to more than $80,000 for some STEM graduates.

The best-paid trade workers in 2026 are elevator installers and repair technicians, who make a median salary of $99,000, according to The Blue Collar Recruiter. Welders, who are ranked fifth, make a median salary of $75,000-$85,000.

Trade school administrators also said rising college tuition costs are driving some young adults to trade careers. The average U.S. student loan debt was $42,673 in 2025, according to the Education Data Initiative, and as of August the average cost of attending a four-year State University of New York school is about $120,000, roughly $30,000 per year, for in-state residents living on campus. The average tuition and fees total of a New York trade school was $14,350 for 2024-25, according to College Tuition Compare.

“Many students now will graduate in four years with humongous amounts of debt, and they have no job and they have nothing,” Denton said. “They can’t do anything. These kids that go into the trades are going to have no debt and a high-paying job, and they’re going to work.”

Bonilla said while he enjoyed his years at NYU, they were “a bit of a waste of time.”

“The most important things that I have learned in this industry, I have learned from more experienced people in it, on the job and from continuing education,” Bonilla said.

He added, “I wish I did hair first.”

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