On April 21st, Thomas Knapp published "Student Loan Forgiveness: Don't Confuse Policy With Politics." I started to write a comment and realized that more needed to be said about the high cost of college (rather unique to the richest country in the world). So here are my thoughts meant to complement Knapp's.
Treating student loans as return on investment based on income corrupts education. College is not a jobs-training program, yet government leaders talk like it is. President Obama was perhaps the worst in that respect using his State-of-the-Union bully pulpit to essentially tell Americans that the path to prosperity demands a diploma. After all, he made it big that way. Sadly, many college enrollees are not suited by maturity and their return on investment is no diploma - just college debt - 40% is the US average drop/flunk-out rate.
In the past 25 years, there has been an explosion in college diploma mills. They exploit the government student-loan program, provide mediocre educations, and often enroll students with low aptitudes who believe that enrolling will increase their work income later. DC tried to shut down these fraudulent schools like Trump University, but more just keep popping up. They are still selling a Dollar Store-knockoff diploma that is unlikely to impress an employer much less accelerate the upward mobility of graduates. That 40% drop/flunk-out rate is a direct result of equating college with job and income status. Whether you fail at Yale or Hoodwinkle U, you do not get a diploma, but you do get to keep the debt burden. Thus, the federal student loan program is too often supporting a scam.
Where you go to school matters less than how much you bother to learn there. As long as a school is an accredited college or university with at least 75 years of history, your education should be quite good. What is critical is that students apply themselves in their coursework . Too many freshmen treat college as an extension of high school, just with more parties and less adult supervision. Likewise, what you major in usually matters less than what you learn unless you intend to go on in a profession requiring graduate training. Most people with a bachelor's degree, who got good grades, succeed in life regardless of major. I have two friends who majored in English. One is now a retired airline pilot; the other is a full partner at Deloitte.
There are better ways to fund higher education, ways that can help to ensure that students have both the aptitude and maturity to graduate. Europe offers an excellent example. University education is generally cheap or nothing, though there are expenses such as books and lodging. Students usually must pass a universal aptitude test. Also, it is not uncommon for high school students to take time off before entering school. This is not the case in the USA. Most high school graduates apply for college as seniors and enter college the following fall.
There are better ways to reduce college dropouts/failures. Most high school students with low aptitudes or no academic interest self-select out of applying for college. In my experience as a teacher, immaturity is likely the #1 reason for college drop/flunk-outs. If high schools and politicians would encourage students to take a year-or-two break before entering college, the extra maturity might not only prevent failure, but also improve grades. After 12 years of regimented school life, a case in point, I almost flunked out of college freshman year because I was too immature to have a career goal. I took a year off and did volunteer work. When I decided to re-enroll, my first semester, I went from probationary enrolment to the Dean's List, and eventually earned a PhD.
