Conservative news outlets have been vocal in their skepticism toward colleges and universities while the liberal media has remained complicit in their overall approval. Now, as a more progressive generation of millennials finds itself increasingly unemployed or underemployed, it seems as though the left might be turning against academia.
Last week, the Atlantic, one of the Left’s longest-enduring supporters, published a blistering critique of today’s college system from a tenured George Mason University professor. In the article, Bryan Caplan, a libertarian-leaning professor, decries higher education as “wasteful” and “irrelevant.” Caplan brilliantly points out what employers have known for years.
“[D]espite the chasm between what students learn and what workers do, academic success is a strong signal of worker productivity … The labor market doesn’t pay you for the useless subjects you master; it pays you for the preexisting traits you signal by mastering them” – traits like intelligence, diligence and the ability to “tolerate serious boredom.”
Caplan argues that at least half of college’s financial value (if not more) lies in “signaling” rather than the actual knowledge that is gained from coursework. Instead of wasting time and money on irrelevant knowledge, schools should be preparing students for their future careers. To support his case, Caplan provides several statistics proving the pathetically limited amount of knowledge and skills retained by students from one year to the next.
Resisting claims that he is simply a cynic, Caplan explains that he’s “cynical about people.” Students, teachers, and school officials have all contributed to the preservation of a flawed system that rewards students with inflated grades in irrelevant courses for unrelated jobs after graduation.
Meanwhile, the “college-for-all mentality” has ultimately caused “runaway credential inflation.” The amount of education required to do the same jobs continues to rise for no apparent reason. What happened to the value of work experience and on-the-job training?
Non-academic students are forced upon the college track and end up flunking out, wasting thousands of dollars along the way. Vocational paths are often given the cold shoulder, even though they can be a more direct path to a successful career.
Interestingly enough, the Atlantic actually published an opinion piece back in June 2008 by a community college professor who observed that while telling someone that “college is not for him seems harsh and classist and British,” many simply don’t have the skills to succeed in high school, let alone college. If that’s the case, why are they wasting time or money on the college route when other options exist?
The socialist mentality of college-for-all has destroyed the value of college and has done nothing to fill the noble jobs that remain vacant. When a progressive magazine has to point that out, it’s pretty obvious that we’re in trouble.
Brendan Pringle (@BrendanPringle) is a freelance journalist in California. He is a National Journalism Center graduate and formerly served as a development officer for Young America’s Foundation at the Reagan Ranch.
