The Moral Freefall of Today’s American Universities

CBN News ^ | 1/25/2005

[Ditto]

True, as long as I can remember, it was...'you've got to go to college, if you want a good job, and don't want to dig ditches'

Ironic. I just finished lunch with a guy who is a very talented engineer, owner of his own company, and a very wealthy individual. His "secondary" education? Electronics trade school -- basically trained in the 1960s to be a TV repairman. He has traveled the world and made a fortune selling advanced automation solutions to mega corporations that would not hire him as an entry level engineer because he does not have a college degree.

I'm old enough to remember a corporate environment where some of the best and brightest engineers where older guys who never saw the inside of a college. They came up through the ranks as draftsmen, machinists etc. and proved their skill on the job. With the certificate centric environment we have created since the 1960s, talented individuals who can do the job as well, or better than degreed individuals, are blocked from moving upward, to the detriment of all.

The above is an engineering example. These exist in other professions as well.

[stuartcr]

As I also mentioned...all of our political leaders have college degrees, many have legal backgrounds, and most studied political science....is all this necessary to be a leader?

[LS]

I've read a lot of research on this in the last few years---I recommend Richard Vedder's book, "Going Broke by Degree" and a book called "Birthquake." Each has some good scholarly research on the value of a college education. The following appears to be true:

1) There still is a premium for a college degree over a high school diploma, but it is shrinking.

2) There is a bigger premium for an advanced degree, either in grad school, law, or medicine, and it is growing.

3) The largest gap is between those who graduate high school and those who don't. It's safe to say you HAVE to have a high school education to "make it" in America, but it is still possible to be pretty well off without a college degree.