Oh, But There IS a Debate Over That!

George Leef

Inside Higher Ed ran a story yesterday on a recent AEI conference where the subject was the “completion agenda.” That is, do we really need to get lots more young people into and through college as Obama says we should? After the presentation of a paper by Arthur Hauptman that was skeptical, Lumina Foundation’s Dewayne Matthews commented that “there’s no real debate here that more people need college degrees.” Sorry, but there IS a great debate over that and apparently Lumina continues to shut its ears to it. Are the people at Lumina not aware of the great numbers of college graduates who have college credentials but find themselves working in mundane jobs that most high school students could do? Are they unaware that by turning higher ed into a mass consumption product, we have managed to drive academic standards down to almost nothing? Are they not aware that other nations that have heavily promoted higher education as an economic “engine” have only managed to create throngs of under-employed graduates, for example Britain and China? Just as with the notion that there are “educational benefits” from “diversity,” the idea that America needs to process more people through college seems impervious to evidence and logic.

  • Share

Most Commented

October 29, 2024

1.

The Looming Irrelevance of Middle East Study Centers

Today’s Middle Eastern Studies Centers are facing a crisis due to the winds of change in the Middle East and their own ideological echo chamber....

November 19, 2024

2.

Lee Zeldin Should Reform EPA Science Policy

NAS welcomes the nomination of Congressmen Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency....

November 20, 2024

3.

NAS Welcomes Administrator McMahon's Nomination to Serve as Education Secretary

With McMahon, the new administration has a chance to drastically slim down and depoliticize the Education Department....

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

May 26, 2010

3.

10 Reasons Not to Go to College

A sampling of arguments for the idea that college may not be for everyone....