Map of life expectancy at birth from Global Education Project.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

the cost of higher education

First, to be clear, elite colleges and universities do admit disproportionately many students from high income families. There is all sorts of affirmative action for affluent white kids -- legacy preference, preference for kids who play preppy sports like squash and rowing, test prep courses, you name it. However, for low income students who are admitted, the cost of tuition is not a barrier.Admission policy is a separate issue.

The real problem with college costs nowadays is twofold. First, states have been cutting back drastically on funding for their state higher education systems, meaning students have been confronted with steep tuition costs for what used to be the most affordable higher education option for middle income families. Second, and what is really the biggest problem, is all of the predatory for-profit "colleges" that overpromised the value of their degrees. In many cases the degrees are pretty much worthless. Someone who graduated from Harvard with debt can pay it back. Someone who graduated from Corinthian College cannot.

This has been compounded by policies of the current Department of Education, which was supposed to forgive student loans if colleges closed suddenly, and also for people who provided a certain number of years of public service such as public school teaching. But under Betsy DeVos, the department reneged, on the former, while grossly mismanaging the latter.  DeVos did recently cancel some fraudulent debt, but lots of people are still out of luck.

So yes, this is a disgrace, but it's a problem of public policy caused by politically motivated actions of state legislatures and the current Administration, not by institutions of higher education. They do some things wrong, but this isn't one of them. Don't complain to Lawrence Bacow, complain to your state legislators and members of congress.

5 comments:

Woody Peckerwood said...


Certainly with you on the scam schools. Heavy TV and radio advertising expense, saddle you up with student debt, graduate you really quickly with a worthless degree and on to the next guy. Not sure how to delineate between legitimate and illegitimate schools.

There are lots of "legitimate" universities, particularly private ones, that are charging a buttload and also graduating students with useless degrees. Any major with the word "Studies" in the title is probably a loser (Womens Studies, African-American Studies, etc.). Even traditional liberal arts degrees such as art, philosophy, music and theater could arguably be deemed useless if you're only measurement is earning power after graduation.

Cervantes said...

Well yes and no. Some of those liberal art degrees aren't likely to be very lucrative in themselves, but of course that's not the only reason for getting an education. My undergrad degree is in theater, but I ended up making myself more marketable with graduate degrees. You can get into a masters program or a post-graduate certificate program, or even law school with just about any major. (Not that law degrees are worth much nowadays.) Also, those liberal arts degrees do give you a leg up for entry level jobs where you can learn on-the-job. Art and theater degrees can lead to work in the field other than being an artist or an actor as well.

As for distinguishing the illegitimate schools, we need better regulation. A lot of them misrepresented their graduates' job market success, and were allowed to get away with it.

Chucky Peirce said...

Can't remember the source, WSJ I think, that correlated lawyers' incomes, after working for a number of years, to their undergraduate majors.

Those making the least majored in Pre-Law.

The second highest earnings went to History undergrads, methinks.

Philosophy majors earned the most.

Being educated (approximately = liberal arts) eventually trumps being trained. Maybe not monetarily, but almost certainly in how rich your experience of life is.

From my own experience I can't imagine anyone getting more from ANY popular album than is available to them from a late Beethoven piano sonata or quartet.

Chucky Peirce said...

Also, higher education shouldn't really be the responsibility of the states. I live in a fly-over state, and most of the top graduates from our state universities immediately leave for greener pastures elsewhere.

Its irrational for our state legislature to tax its citizens in order to donate our best people to other states.

Incidentally, the same logic applies to countries whose educational systems provide us with many of their top graduates at no cost to us. (Shhh - don't tell them!)

Sober Curious said...


There is no question that one of the biggest causes of the high cost of higher education is the ease with which loans are handed out. If you can breath on a mirror, you get a student loan. The money flows like a river. Schools have no incentive to be efficient since the student can borrow whatever they ask.

Don't know how much Lawrence Bacow makes in salary but his predecessor made 1.7 Million in 2017. Professors there aren't doing too shabby, either.

Not-For-Profit doesn't mean no one's making big bucks.