Some facts:
Perhaps no more than half of those who began a four-year bachelor’s degree program in the fall of 2006 will get that degree within six years…
For college students who ranked among the bottom quarter of their high school classes, the numbers are even more stark: 80 percent will probably never get a bachelor’s degree or even a two-year associate’s degree.
Of the 30 jobs projected to grow at the fastest rate over the next decade in the United States, only seven typically require a bachelor’s degree…
And one thought provoking quote:
Professor Vedder likes to ask why 15 percent of mail carriers have bachelor’s degrees, according to a 1999 federal study. “Some of them could have bought a house for what they spent on their education,” he said.
There is much more in this article on increasing calls for alternatives to four-year colleges. This highlights the puzzle of why more alternative means of accreditation and training haven’t arisen. What’s the market failure? There are some obvious possibilities including informational problems. But the large degree of government intervention, especially in the low-end of the college market, does suggest that part of the explanation may lie with policy and not market failure. After all, the large majority of revenues for poorly performing low-end schools like the University of Phoenix come from federal student loans.
In addition, these schools are by far the top recipients of Pell grants, with the University of Phoenix receiving $656.9 million in the 2008-2009 school year alone.
With this level of intervention, policy has a large degree of responsibility for the state of the market. And that state does not appear healthy.
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Saturday ~ May 15th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Dain
The first two of the three factoids are most sobering for those who haven’t attended college yet.
I finished my four year bachelors in 5, including the three years spent in a two year college, going part time.
I didn’t graduate high school on time, was most definitely in the bottom quarter of my class, and indeed I went to continuation school, but managed to get an AA and BA years later.
I graduated into one of the worst economies in decades with a degree in Poli Sci, not exactly a job winner. About the only thing the BA has done for me is allow me an excuse to go on without full time, permanent work because observers imagine it can’t be my fault – I went to college! “Things HAVE to change eventually,” “give it time,” etc.
Saturday ~ May 15th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Rebecca Burlingame
Over the years I have gone back to college for classes whenever I could, having received a high school diploma in 1973. Education is vitally important to me but I do not kid myself; every class I take is for my own benefit, and if it turns out to applicable to life circumstances beyond myself then I am lucky indeed.
I believe that people have an inborn desire to learn for a lifetime. But this is not what impels most students to attend classes today, and with each passing year the stakes have only grown to make more of the education than is actually possible. So for me the big concern is, how do we get back to learning because we want to? It is not just a matter of making education less expensive. First, the disconnect between education and what one actually does in life has to be addressed. Then, and only then, can anyone see true purpose in the educational choices they make.
Saturday ~ May 15th, 2010 at 11:54 pm
teageegeepea
Seems like the government could easily cut off the gravy-flow to these colleges (make it conditional on producing qualified graduates or something). It’s not like U of Phoenix is all that popular among the ruling class.
Off-topic:
I know you guys (maybe mostly Karl) are interested in obesity and have pointed out the rule of chemicals like insulin. So I thought you might be interested in this:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0010587
Monday ~ May 17th, 2010 at 1:18 am
teageegeepea
Art de Vany’s EconTalk podcast also discusses insulin:
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2010/03/de_vany_on_ster.html
Thursday ~ June 23rd, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Janai
Ya learn something new evyerady. It’s true I guess!
Monday ~ May 17th, 2010 at 1:44 am
RickRussellTX
I think the main argument for a baccalaureate degree is that it’s the gateway to Master’s programs. Unlike the BS/BA with all of its ridiculous requirements and class load, Master’s programs provide a focused 2-year curriculum.
But you can’t get in until you’ve got the bachelor’s degree.
Monday ~ May 17th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Agustin
… or maybe there’s more to life than getting a job? Some people enjoy learning.
Take a look at the links between education and health, education and wealth, education and environmental footprint, education and crime rate,… It goes on and on and on. An educated population is a stronger population.
At university I was taught more than just vocational tools. I was taught critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The more people are equipped with these skills, the better off we are as a society. You want governments to make good policy decisions? You’re going to need a thoughtful population to vote those governments into office, whether individual voters are mailmen, plumbers, or CEOs.
I don’t think that university is for everyone. Some people are happier and better off to get an education through a different stream. And healthy societies need those people too. But I don’t buy the argument that a mailman’s university degree was a waste of time and money.
Monday ~ May 17th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Sister Y
I was a bit annoyed to learn that college education is a poor investment in my Economics of Education class in my last year of undergrad. A bit late at that point to put the knowledge to use – kind of a parting “fuck you” from my esteemed undergraduate institution.
There are benefits to higher education that are not reflected in increased income (class status, health, fun, intangibles like that), but education is priced (and money for education is lent) as an investment, not as a consumer good/service.
Tuesday ~ May 18th, 2010 at 8:00 am
Foreclosing on your college degree « Modeled Behavior
[...] expressed by experts in a recent New York Times article, and by many commenters on that article, including myself. While I think he offers a useful overall counterpoint to the skeptics that is worth reading, he [...]
Wednesday ~ May 19th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Kids, Maybe You Should Skip College | Free Market Mojo
[...] on the article, Adam Ozimek writes: This highlights the puzzle of why more alternative means of accreditation and training haven’t [...]