This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, May 21, 2013 - Ah, the end of the academic year. Amid all the pomp, it is a good time to reflect on the circumstances surrounding college education. Higher education is under attack from many sides. Let’s start with student debt.
Many students will graduate with substantial debt accumulated over the past four or five (or six?) years. Surely, they argue, spending upwards of $50,000 annually to attend that elite Midwestern college to get that cross-disciplinary degree (biology and accounting?) entitles them to a high-paying job upon graduation.