New higher ed bill sure to make matters worse; Congress delighted
One provision of Congress’s newest higher education bill requires that colleges and universities report their reasons for tuition hikes to the Department of Education. It will be interesting to see how many ways they can come up with to say, “Because we can.”
The motivation behind the bill, which passed both houses of Congress today, is to expand access to higher education by making it more affordable. When it comes to tuition prices, the effect is likely to be exactly the opposite. Neal McCluskey’s Washington Times editorial puts it in a single elegant sentence: “The more money students get from others, the more they’re willing to pay and the more universities are happy to charge.” Tuition at four-year universities has gone up by almost half since 1999, but what does that matter when nobody pays sticker price?
Even with the changing labor market and the growing importance of human capital, there are still a number of careers for which a degree gives no real leg up and many more careers where it does but shouldn’t. The fact that businesses can afford to hire only applicants with bachelor’s degrees--or, to put it more bluntly, those candidates who have had enough spare time and money to get one--doesn’t mean that a college degree bears any relationship to the skills a position requires.
There are arguments against degree inflation that focus on the way that it lowers college’s standards and dumbs down the meaning of a liberal arts education, but the real problem is more prosaic: the more people have college degrees, the more difficult it is to get along without one. Getting a college degree used to be only one of many ways a young person might advance within his field; apprenticeships, vocational training in high school, and working up from an entry-evel position were others, all with lower price tags. Now, there are many career paths for which a college degree is, inexplicably, a prerequisite.
Ted Kennedy puts the number of students for whom the cost of four-year college is a deal-breaker at 780,000 per year. The more interesting statistic would be the percentage of these 780,000 for whom putting four years into a degree would or should be worth it, given the career paths they want to pursue.
On a cheerier note, the final version of the bill mandates that, in order to receive funding, teacher training programs must include specialized instruction in gifted and talented education. This provision is thanks to the efforts of Chuck Grassley and is a refreshing change from education policy’s usual preoccupation with remedial programs and achieving mere adequacy. Read more about the bill’s specific provisions here.
Comments
Giving Ted Kennedy the power to make education policy is about
as smart as making him your driving instructor. The federal
government has neither the authority nor the competence to be
devising educational budgets or curricula.
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Retirement Penury in Four Easy Lessons
Lesson One:
Never get between a College Bursar and their Tuition Due Invoice. The Liberal Institution goes decidedly non-liberal in such instances.
Lesson Two:
A. After Watching one’s paper assets go up in the smoke of serial market bubbles before then;
B. Watching one’s FED encouraged Housing Bubble flatline any imaginary value accrued in one’s house, go to step;
C. Learn Buddhist Beatific Indifference as one’s remaining liquid assets plunge down the vacuum tube of the various Institutions of Higher Learning attended by the progeny, particularly in the East where College Tuition is a tad cheeky to be sure.
Chant the meditative mantra: “So many liberal professors, so much money, so little time”
Lesson Three:
Sharpen one’s sense of black humor whilst watching Congress “Privatize” Social Security mainly so they can put up a simple sign saying
“Sorry, We’re Closed” (see # 2 above).
Lesson Four:
Learn many recipes to polish dog food if you were a Corporate Serf during your working years or be glad you are in a self-employed and paying profession that releases you from the self-inflicted injury and historically unknown inanity of “retirement”.
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An excellent post on an important subject.
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Even with the changing labor market and the growing importance of human capital, there are still a number of careers for which a degree gives no real leg up
Like growing your own food, fer instance, or as Mr Sabin says,” Polish your dog food”.
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