Intelligence Squared is a radio program on NPR that has Oxford style debates on all kinds of great topics. Recently the proposition was “Too many kids go to college“. If you are interested in all in higher education, then this ought to get your neurons firing. There is so many ideas, I can’t summarize them all here at all. Just listen!
This has also been a topic debated at Chronicles of Higher Education. Â In a two part articles (part 1, part 2) titled “Helium” Peter Wood argues that higher education institutes are in a bubble period with too many students and too high costs for too little reward. Â While he accepts that college graduates generally will make more money in their lifetime, he believes the burden of college loans, failure to complete a degree, and prolonged unemployment significantly diminish the benefits. Â Not to mention how many college graduates take positions that don’t really require a degree because most of what is required is learned on the job. Â To summarize he believes too many students are going to college, which isn’t good for the students or the colleges. Â This was retorted by Brian Rosenberg, president of Macalester College, who essentially argues that education is always a good thing.