The short answer is No.
And why is that?
Because college was supposed to be a place of education. A place where your mind and views were broadened.
Instead, college has become a place where your views are restricted—especially if you’re conservative.
A recent survey shows that “[t]he list of keynote commencement speakers at Ivy League institutions for 2013 does not include a single conservative.”
Instead, you get speakers like Vice President Biden and Oprah, who are about as liberal as you can get. My UCLA commencement was done by Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu, who seemed woefully underqualified as she delivered a droll speech of liberal talking points which went too long instead of inspiring and commending graduates.
College has gone from being a public service to a self-perpetuating institution, a revolving door for future professors (with likeminded liberal ideas, of course). Plus, college is just too damn expensive.
According to William Bennett, “[c]ollege tuition will rise as long as the amount of money available through federal student aid continues to increase with little or no accountability”.
So the very liberal students protesting tuition hikes and increased fees seem unaware that very liberal politicians who established widespread federal student aid resulted in expensive college tuitions. After all, when colleges are guaranteed government money, why not raise the prices?
But for all that money, the education is worth it, right?
Truth be told, and Mr. Bennett and Mr. Wilezol are truth-tellers, college is not for everyone. In New York, for instance, only a third of the population is college ready, and the nationwide statistics are not much better — which means college is only worth it for a minority of students. Most would be better served to follow a model that provides short, focused instruction and a period of apprenticeship where one learns “on the job.” Germany does this quite successfully.
You don’t need to go to college to become unemployed or become a waiter. Yet an increasing percentage of college graduates are unemployed or underemployed, busting the hell out of the myth that you go to college to get a great job.
So to summarize: college is a place that’s expensive due to federal student aid, where you go to learn no job training, where your views are restricted, and where you’ll hear nothing but an echo chamber of liberal views.
Why pay $65,000 a year when you can just listen to MSNBC for a few bucks a month?
