I’ll second Rich’s observation about the military as an alternative route to a career and college.
I went through ROTC at UCLA as an undergrad. Got paid the of about $465/mo in today’s dollars ($100 in 1975) for a couple of years, plus half a second lieutenant’s pay at summer training - this truly was slave wages worked out to about 25 cents an hour). Served my active duty time, went to law school and graduate law school on the GI Bill getting about $1,100 for GI Bill plus $600 in reserve duty ($342 + $200 in 1980 $$). Only had about $16,000 in student debt ($5000 1980).
A yute coming out of HS can go with a technical specialty: avionics, electronics, radar repair, air traffic control, signals-cryptologist,etc. Bonus, most of these you will come out with at least a Secret Security clearance and some with a Top Security. If you are certain fields of science or especially defense contracting these are absolute gold for getting hired. Since 911 it can take forever. Prior military service makes it much easier.
Or go Medical; Medics now come out as EMT-2’s, all kinds of licensed tech’s: X-ray, ultrasonic, medical equipment repair technician, etc.
All of the above you get paid while being trained, the training is paid for, you come out with 2-3 years experience. Plus the military pays your college costs while on active duty. Current GI bill pays over $1,800 (= about 25 hrs/week @ $15) a month when you get - plus reserve duty if you want a very part-time job.
Going into the military absolutely is NOT for everyone. If you have a sense of entitlement or lack of commitment - avoid it, I mean really avoid it. There are not participation trophies, and you may get shot at … and HIT. May go to some real nasty places or some really cool ones (Panama Canal Zone for me - Paradise Lost). But you’ll also find that old Vet network is strong much stronger than Old Boy network. Women Vets and military service shows the ability to commit to something. If you come as a officer you’ll have 2-3 years of management experience. Day one at your unit you’ll typically have 15-44 troops to manage and millions in equipment.
Not for everyone - but you can do a lot a whole worse with 3-4 years of active duty that trains you in technical skill.