Ghost of a flea

Math is hard

College tuition is ten times what it was in 1978.

Does anyone think a BA is worth ten times what it was in 1978? Does anyone think a BA - in any subject area - is worth even half what it was in 1978?

Exit observation: My only caveat to add to Roger Kimball's linked piece concerns the nature of the market for higher education. Parents aren't buying their children a college or university education solely based on future earning prospects, let alone the questionable value of a Marxist finishing school qualification; they are buying status. The bubble market in degrees isn't only about tuition vs financial prospects, it is the problem any product must face after decades of down-market brand-stretching.

When BMW reaches 5% market share it stops selling cars in that market. The earnings from increased sales are worth less to BMW than the premium they can charge for exclusivity. At some point, even Ivy League degree factories, long used to selling a sub-standard product (I am looking at you, Harvard) on snob appeal, will lose out to leaner competitors whose graduates can find work and fund new endowments.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at September 7, 2010 10:05 AM

Comments

Posted by: agent bedhead at September 7, 2010 04:37 PM