Contrarian Thoughts on Higher Ed

Do you know people who have racked up thousands of dollars of student-loan debt, only to earn a degree from a mediocre institution that has qualified them for rather low-paying jobs? "Among the college-educated a noticeable number with bachelor's degrees are showing up in jobs that seem to require only a high school education," Louis Uchitelle reported in the October 2, 2005 New York Times. "The (Bureau of Labor Statistics) tracks this through a periodic survey of workers age 25 to 44. The most recent survey, completed in 2002, shows, for example, that 17 percent of the nation's office clerks had bachelor's degrees or higher. So did 12 percent of the derrick operators; 19 percent of the theater ushers, lobby attendants and ticket takers; 13 percent of the bank tellers; 14 percent of the typists and word processors; and 37 percent of the flight attendants -- to cite just a few occupations that do not seem to require a college education, although at least 10 percent of the jobholders have one."

Do you know parents who have racked up big debt to in order to send their children off to be taught by tenured radicals in the Poisoned Ivies or other prestige universities, only to have the children lose their faith in God or their love for America?

If so, the always-interesting Gary North (Ph.D. in economic history, University of California, Riverside) has three essays for you. I invite you to check them out here, here, and here.

Popular Posts