#HigherEducation #GoingToCollege #CrisisInHigherEducation #CollegeCosts
College is getting too expensive.
Many times, students are learning relatively little.
And, what students expect to get from a college degree, in terms of employment, don’t match labor market realities.
So says Richard Vedder, professor emeritus of economics at Ohio University, in his new book, “Restoring the Promise.” Walter E. Williams discussed Vedder’s book in a column published May 15, 2019, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Let’s start with the first premise. Colleges and universities “are vastly too expensive, often costing twice as much per student” when compared with institutions in other industrialized democracies, Williams quotes from the book.
“High college cost not only saddles students with debt, it causes them to defer activities such as getting married and starting a family, buying a home and saving for retirement,” Williams writes.
He also writes that, quoting research by the Federal Reserve Banks and the National Bureau of Economic Research, each dollar of federal aid to college leads to a tuition increase of 60 cents.
Secondly, very little improvement in critical reasoning skills happens in college, Williams quotes from a study titled “Academically Adrift,” by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. Adult literacy is falling among college graduates, he adds.
Thirdly, quoting from a Federal Reserve Bank of New York 2018 report, many students are not only saddled with debt, they are underemployed, Williams writes. Many are filling jobs that only require a high school education, he adds.
We’ve discussed here before that despite universal encouragement to get a college education, college is not for everyone.
In these modern times, it becomes important before deciding whether to go to college to do some math, and give it a lot of thought. Ask yourself first, what are you going to do with the degree when you get it? How much do you believe you can earn by using that degree? How much will you have to borrow to get it? When will you be able to pay it back? What else could you do with that money that might be more profitable?
Certainly, no education is a waste, despite some opinions to the contrary. But if you are not going to earn a better living with a college degree, is it worth the expense?
For their part, colleges have to cut expenses, pool resources, offer more online options etc.
For the prospective student, unless he or she plans to study the STEM curriculum (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), job options are limited. If he or she wants to go to college to major in, say, the liberal arts, he or she will probably have to find a way to make an income that is unrelated to their degree.
There are many vehicles out there that allow a person, by devoting a few part-time hours a week, to produce an income that could even exceed what they might be paid through a job. To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
These vehicles require no specific education, background or experience. They only require a willingness to check them out, the ambition to do what you need to do and the ability to be coached or taught.
College is not for everyone, and, given the state of higher education today, should not be pursued as a matter of course. Fortunately, opportunities can be found with or without a degree.
Peter