Sounds pretty controversial, non?
Here’s Alex Tabarrok:
The sluggish economy is tough on everyone but the students are also learning a hard lesson, going to college is not enough. You also have to study the right subjects. And American students are not studying the fields with the greatest economic potential.
Over the past 25 years the total number of students in college has increased by about 50 percent. But the number of students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (the so-called STEM fields) has remained more or less constant. Moreover, many of today’s STEM graduates are foreign born and are taking their knowledge and skills back to their native countries…
More here.
Let’s face it. College has become a party for people who don’t really want to be there.
I feel like some day Colleges will be more like the music industry: the basic product is already free (have a read of the blogosphere or spend some time at the Khan Academy if you don’t believe me) for those who actually want to consume it.
As I commented on MR: what we need is a solid way of signalling domain competence without paying for a degree.
For most people a college degree is a WASTE OF MONEY.
Not Unreasonable 