Mike Rowe says he has 'aligned' with the White House

close

Video

Mike Rowe on disconnect between higher education, real life

TV host and mikeroweWORKS Foundation founder offers insight on the job market on 'Fox & Friends.'

Mike Rowe stopped by "Fox and Friends" on Wednesday to talk about preparing millennials with the necessary skills and trades to help them land more employment opportunities.

The former "Dirty Jobs" host opened up about collaborating with the White House and having similar beliefs to those of Ivanka Trump, who also stresses the necessity of young Americans having the right skills for today's employment market.

"My foundation is modest, we've raised about $5 million for work ethic scholarships and we are aligned in a lot of ways," he said of working with the White House. "But you guys know just as well as anybody — if I put the red hat on, half the country isn't going to hear me. We are completely agnostic and non-partisan at Mike RoweWORKS [Foundation]. Anyone who is willing to learn a skill that is in demand and can meet the rigor of our work scholarship program is somebody we want to help. I similarly can't indulge the politics of the moment."

Rowe went on to talk about the "disconnect" that is happening in the education system that is allowing for confusion among recent grads who matriculate from four-year institutions and enter the workforce with false expectations.

"The expectation is real and the expectation is this: 'I want a job in my chosen field. I want that job to pay not just fairly but well. And, most interestingly, I would like that job to be in my zip code. Like, right now. I'm not really into this whole moving to where the work is,'" Rowe said.

Rowe added that there are approximately six million available jobs in the United States and 75 percent of them don't require a four-year degree.

This isn't the first time the MikeRoweWORKS founder has spoken out about his different educational practices.

Last year, Rowe lashed back at a fan-turned-critic who said he had "so little value on academic education."

"It’s hard to believe you could have 'followed' me from the first days of 'Dirty Jobs' and 'Deadliest Catch,' and be so completely mistaken about my stance on the importance of a college education," Rowe wrote to the so-called fan in a lengthy Facebook post.

He went on to explain that while he's "unapologetically opposed to the mind-bending, utterly indefensible skyrocketing cost of tuition," he does not underestimate the importance of education.

Rowe, who said his college degree has served him well, added he "strongly support[s] education in all of its forms." He added he just opposes pushing a four-year college degree on everyone.

"What I’ve opposed – consistently – is not the importance of higher education, but rather, the relentless drumbeat of 'college for everyone,'" he said. "Because this cookie-cutter approach to education presupposes that all worthwhile knowledge can only be attained from a college or a university. That’s the most dangerous myth of all."

Fox News' Sasha Savitsky contributed to this report.