Ohio University's student newspaper,
The Post, did a story on tonight's national debate on education and the economy, interviewing CCAP's Richard Vedder, George Leef of the Pope Center, and former education secretary Margaret Spellings.
increasing college enrollment should not be a national goal. He listed delayed graduation, dropouts and "mountains of student loans" as problems facing college students today, adding that postsecondary education is not necessary for everyone.
Often, college grads are mail carriers, waiters and cutting trees down with a master's degree," he said. "You don't need a master's degree to cut a tree down for someone or to drive a UPS truck. I'm not against UPS truck drivers having advanced education, but I don't know that taxpayers need to subsidize this, particularly given the other problems we're having as a nation right now
The
St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran on story about unemployed grads struggling with student loans, interviewing Richard Vedder.
Look for an exponential increase in the ranks of underemployed graduates struggling to cover an education they hoped would boost their earning potential
It's going to be a long-running crisis independent of the recession
The economic downturn, he continued, "exacerbates the fact that beginning salaries are lower and the ratio of the amount of (student) loans to those salaries is getting higher and higher. When that happens, you're getting into problems."
More and more students, Vedder said, are deferring payment (and incurring additional debt) by pursuing advanced degrees. The latest statistics from the Council of Graduate Schools bear him out.
1 comment:
What I don't understand is that there is a considerable literature estimating the return to education and it all suggests college is worthwhile for a lot of people not going (on average). You guys marshall no evidence beyond a theory and some anecdotes in response. It doesn't make any sense.
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