IS COLLEGE WORTH IT?: A FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF EDUCATION AND A LIBERAL ARTS GRADUATE EXPOSE THE BROKEN PROMISE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
By William J. Bennett with David Wilezol
Thomas Nelson, $22.99, 240 pages
William J. Bennett and David Wilezol’s “Is College Worth It?” asks and authoritatively answers one of life’s biggest questions.
The orthodox answer to the question, the authors write, is “Of course it is. Though the cost of attendance is ever increasing, those who go to college make more than those who don’t. And while the job market is bad, it is worse for those without a college degree.”
“Is College Worth It?” provides a thoroughgoing deconstruction of the “of course it is” delusion. It turns out that for too many, and maybe even most of our young people, the answer to this central question is, sadly, “no.” “Whether the standard of excellence for higher education is cultivating the mind and the soul or maximizing financial return on investment, most of higher education fails most students,” the authors write.
College has simply become too expensive. In the time between when I graduated from college and when my kids will start in a couple of years, the price differential, adjusting for inflation, has jumped 300 percent. When I went to college, my parents just wanted me to follow my muse, develop my mind and be happy. This led to my getting a doctorate — and to everyone’s surprise, I somehow figured out how to make a good living. However, a bachelor of arts degree in political science at a price of more than $150,000 now seems like a bad life choice. Somewhere during the past 25 years, the idea of following your muse in college got killed.
What killed it is explained by the “Bennett Hypothesis,” which by now should be elevated to the status of a theory or a law: “College tuition will rise as long as the amount of money available through federal student aid continues to increase with little or no accountability.”
Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/14/book-review-is-college-worth-it/#ixzz2TIJiteqU
I’d advise someone that unless they were going to college as a precedent for law school or med school don’t waste your money. Become a licensed plumber or electrician and you will have all the work you can handle.
The market is really bad for lawyers. More debt and less jobs.
You view college as a job apprenticeship. Plumber vs lawyer?
#1 if by “going to college” you mean “getting a liberal arts degree” I would agree with you. But without our science and engineering students, doctors would have a lot fewer options and lawyers would have a lot less to talk about.
Nothing wrong with being a plumber or electrician though. I do all my own plumbing and electrical work (to code) and it is relaxing and satisfying when the project is complete.
Too bad Christie didn’t cap some admins at Rutgers and other state schools. It’s like a salary smorgasbord with multiple six-figures for teaching a few classes a week or 500k for the top admin. Even a football coach can score over $2 mil if he plays his cards right and even get a house as a perk.
Parents, before sending your kids off to college, think about the value to them before committing $250k.
Even if you become a tradesman you still need some kind of buisness training, bookkeeping, money can be complicated if you don’t know what your doing.