The College Gamble

For much of the past century, completing a college education was an accomplishment most students would be proud of.  Today, college training is mostly a joke.  Higher education is, in economics parlance, no longer an investment good (something that will improve future production): it is mostly a consumption good (something that satisfies a current economic want).

To prove that college in the USA is not much of an investment for many students, please read these 21 statistics on college trends: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/student-loan-debt-hell-21-statistics-that-will-make-you-think-twice-about-going-to-college.

I hope that article bothered you as much as it did me.  I just would like to note the points that really stood out to me.

First is the insane increase in tuition levels.  The general price level has increased 250% (inflation) since the late 1970's (e.g., eggs today are 2.5 times more expensive than they were in 1979). College tuition has increased over three times faster than inflation (tuitions have increased 900% since the late 1970's).  This drastic increase in college tuition has led to a total outstanding student debt of almost $1 trillion!

The second issue I had concerns the quality of education students are getting.  Only 50% of students have ever taken a single course that made them write more than 20 pages.  32% of students have never taken a course that makes them read more than 40 pages in a week.  Crazy, right?

The third problem that really bothered me is that one-third of all bachelor's degree holders end up getting jobs that don't require college degrees anyway.  What is the point for millions of people to go to college if they will end up with jobs they could've gotten without going to college?  Well, it's just four years of partying and drunken fornication for students (as I will explain), and billions of dollars of revenue for schools' administrators.

The final disturbing fact I found in this article was that 51% of a typical college student's time is spent socializing, while only 7% of his or her time is spent studying.  Additionally, at least 35% of college students spent less than FIVE hours studying every week.  (How does this not sound like a huge adulthood-postponing party?  And, how does this not sound like schools being useless in terms of teaching students and making them work hard)?

It is obvious to me that financing and quality issues need to be addressed immediately in terms of higher education.  I really think my GRP idea is a good place to start in terms of combating student debt (if you missed my post on the GRP, read it here: http://theyoungandthescrewed.blogspot.com/p/solution-to-young-americans-current-and.html).  Or, we could just have the federal government totally subsidize university education like many countries do.  (I prefer the latter option, but, either one works for me.  Under both systems, though, students need to be held accountable in terms of yearly testing and exit exams.  We need to be sure that they are actually learning something).

As for reforming the quality of college education in the USA, I believe it starts with lower education.  If you need any more proof that the level of education in this country is decreasing, check out this Harvard entrance exam from back in the late 1800's: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/education/harvardexam.pdf.  Honestly, I can only do the math stuff and some of the history stuff.  I never learned Greek or Latin.  But, that is a reflection on the lower education system.  We have lost ground on college applicants from over 100 years ago!

How are we supposed to compete in the global economy when students from China and India study everything they can get their hands on while our students try to avoid studying anything?  Additionally, how can we compete when the few responsible students this country has are getting destroyed by predatory financing while foreigners can come here and study at extreme discounts?

I believe these situations are of the highest national priority in terms of preparing the USA for the future.  I guess media members and the political class aren't addressing our education system's failures because they will not be around to suffer the consequences of the current issues.  Or maybe they're just getting paid off by the few people benefiting from this system (lenders, administrators, and some academics).

One thing is sure, though: our higher education system is not primarily about education anymore.  It is about fun and money.