The Low Spark of the Higher Ed Degree

A former boss of mine used to rail about how underwhelming many college graduates were as employees. He once told me that he would consider hiring people with a degree if he could. At first, I doubted him. Over time, as I've seen the cost of college increase, I've been wondering students are getting value. Marty Nemko clearly states the trouble with higher ed today in this opinion piece (via Instapundit). Students are paying dearly while often not seeing a return on investment. College is becoming more expensive and its taking longer. While I agree with a lot of his points, I would add that students are to blame partially for their lack of interest and that universities are investing a lot of time and resources in bringing incoming students up to a university level.

Nemko offers some intriguing suggestions. Hopefully, others will join him and we can on higher ed reform instead of providing funds for everyone to go college, seemingly with no strings attached.

The Price was High

I graduated from Grand Valley State University, a Division II school, which, at the time, was a modest cost. I commuted to school and lived at home and ended up with no student debt. Since that time, I seen some people with higher-end educations get lesser or equal jobs to mine. At the same time, as my sons grow up, I have wondered what is the best option for college. A big school with a big time cost? Or a decent school with a mid-level cost?

I've become more concerned with the cost of college in general. In Michigan, tuition has undergone massive increases in response to state funding. While threats to state funding typically have led to talk of cuts to local schools, I have never heard colleges and university discuss cuts as a way to offset loss of state funding.

At the same time, there has been the on-going controversy over the endowments of schools, which has resulted in increased scrutiny.

I think that colleges may be in for far more scrutiny down the road and this (via Instapundit) may signal the start of a turning point.

I've enjoyed my college experience and my professors were often wonderful. The price was right then, but I think the price may be too high right now. The answer is not more loans or more federal programs, but a hard look at cutting costs.