I suppose if there were a free market for doctoral students in Shakespeare, we could say let the market sort it out. But there isn’t one. Instead the government subsidizes the hell out of these markets. At the very least, the subsidies could start being pickier about what they subsidize, letting the market for doctorates in Shakespeare sort themselves out, and if the individual people of the country want to be awash in Shakespeare and vote with their money, well they shall get all the Shakespeare they want. In the meantime, things like engineering would be much more to the country’s self interest.
To “round out” our education engineering students were required to take liberal arts courses. It was a requirement that these courses be entirely academic with “no practical value.” That quote was from the dean of engineering, as I wanted to take a few biology labs in lieu of “art.”
When I got to that side of campus I was appalled. Students were so stoned in the film class they couldn’t tell you that Humphrey Bogart had starred in the “Maltese Falcon” five minutes after we’d seen it. I talked to quite a few students trying to determine why and how they were there. Many were on grants or student loans. They were obviously there to party, not work.
The degrees the liberal arts majors were getting were useless. I talked to one guy who had been working on his PhD. in Russian Art Literature. I asked what that would prepare him to do and he said, “Teach Russian Art Literature.” It was a narrow field and he said he’d have to wait for his major professor to retire.
One simple solution: have student loans be dischargeable in bankruptcy, AND have the college be on the hook for at least part of the loan if the student declares bankruptcy.
Suddenly, schools will lose interest in having students enrolling in unproductive majors, and in accepting students who would not benefit from a college education.