Is a college education worth the cost? In a provocative opinion piece on Forbes.com, Micha Kaufman argues that the answer may be No.
“For most people,” he acknowledges, “common wisdom says that a college degree is practically a requirement for a good career. But with rising tuition costs and an entire generation of graduates burdened by crushing debt, the ROI on college is shrinking.”
Last year’s graduating class was the most indebted ever, Kaufman points out: the average grad with a student loan will owe about $33,000 — double what the average was 20 years ago. But more disturbing, to me, was another stat in the article. Less than 40% of hiring managers think recent grads are prepared for jobs in their field of study. So what was the point of those four years (or longer) and all that debt?
This is a topic of vital interest to Boomers, of course, because the Boomer generation is back-stopping a substantial portion of that student debt — not to mention providing housing and other financial help to adult kids who still can’t get untracked. Anything that challenges the costly, hidebound and unproductive higher education system is a good thing.
You can read the entire article here.
DAVID CRAVIT 