Good analysis by Michael Barone.
Federal subsidies have caused college costs to skyrocket while quality goes down. What does all the money buy? Administrative bloat:
Take the California State University system, the second tier in that state's public higher education. Between 1975 and 2008, the number of faculty rose by 3 percent, to 12,019 positions. During those same years, the number of administrators rose 221 percent, to 12,183. That's right: There are more administrators than teachers at Cal State now.
These people get paid to "liaise" and "facilitate" and produce reports on diversity. How that benefits Cal State students or California taxpayers is unclear.
Barone goes on to point out that to pay $100,000 for a degree in women's studies makes no economic sense. But he doesn't forcefully make the point, contra Obama, that it is just foolish for everyone to go to college. Only some people are 'college material' to use a phrase one no longer hears. There is nothing wrong with learning and plying a trade right out of high school. Why waste thousands of dollars partying and goofing off just so one can -- learn a trade?
And let's be clear that for the vast majority, 'getting an education' is a euphemism for getting ahead, for acquiring credentials that one hopes will bring social and economic advancement. It is not about becoming an educated human being. It's about money and status. But then it should be spectacularly clear that if one wants money, a decidedly suboptimal way of going about getting it is by saddling oneself with $100,000 in college debt.
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