A better comparison would be the median of both (not average); especially in the context of a young person deciding what their odds of improving their circumsta

A better comparison would be the median of both (not average); especially in the context of a young person deciding what their odds of improving their circumstances are by going to college. A quick search looks like median for bachelor's degree is significantly higher. But with declining real wages, there could be a perception that going to 4 years of debt could be a bad idea in the long run. That would seem to indicate that the raw statistics aren't the reason Gen Z isn't going to college, but is either perception of earnings vs debt / time / effort, segmentation by the colleges the rich go to vs the middle class, or the reasoning is something completely unrelated to finances such as social perception of it.