College angst

Several years ago, I was at a social gathering where I found myself in a discussion with a mom whose sons were asking why they should bother with a college degree. My response was that a college degree marks you as a "finisher." Over the four years or so of college enrollment, each student has to complete a variety of courses with different standards, schedules and content. Much like many better-compensated jobs, there are schedules, deadlines and thresholds for success. A bachelors degree says you were able to meet those criteria, time after time, over a protracted time period.

Look, there's a lot more on offer in college, and I hope her sons found courses that were rewarding. Dave Barry called college "camping with tests." There was that, but so much more for me at a large state university.

The rationale for paying huge tuitions at elite private universities is that they are so much "better" than public universities. I've been to both, and have been a professor at a private university for over 35 years. Most of what people mean by "better" is that the elite universities have a substantial number of faculty with distinction in research. And guess what: research grants mean they don't have to teach undergrads! And most of the top faculty teach few if any undergrads.

And as for the salary premium of elite university grads, it's nearly zero. Certainly doesn't justify the far greater tuitions and the loans families take out to get the brand. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/college-decision-career-salary-lie_l_62696038e4b03e3f5a17e328?fbclid=IwAR2tESqfbt5sRttQPSNYMt4LNl6HeWwLhS9HK_6823Xm0qrcbEKhe9mnTpc