John Stossel's eponymous show on Fox Business airs tonight at 9pm ET. The topic is "The College Scam" and features an interview with Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit and the University of Tennesse Law School.
Reynolds is also a longtime critic of what he considers the "higher-education bubble." I think he's definitely right that prices are inflated by the free and reduced-price money flowing into the college and university system, but to my mind there's no doubt that college is for most people not simply a good "investment" in their own future, but a powerful tool of intellectual and personal development (results will vary). In 2013, Reynolds and I, along with several others, participated in a forum entitled "Where Higher Eduction Went Wrong."
Stossel's promo for his show tonight:
Congratulations Class of 2015! You probably wasted up
to $200,000.
IS COLLEGE NECESSARY? People talk about the importance of college. Politicians encourage people to get a college education. President Obama proposed making community college "free". Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to make tuition at four-year public colleges and universities "free"! But "free" just means taxpayers pay. Why should they? Should everyone go to college? No! For a lot of students, college is a scam.
ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER? Do college students get their money's worth? I quiz recent graduates of expensive, top level colleges to see if they answer questions that are part of today's 5th grade curriculum.
Here's one question a lot of people get wrong:
During which war did Francis Scott Key write The Star Spangled Banner?
a. Revolutionary War
b. Civil War
c. War of 1812
d. World War I
Most people assume the answer is A. But it's actually C.
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESSES: I weigh in on the best and worst commencement addresses of 2015.
THE COLLEGE ALTERNATIVE: Peter Thiel pays people NOT to go to college, to start a business instead.
GOVERNMENT LOAN SCAM: Government's student aid has created a tuition bubble. The price goes up because government pays. Some colleges spend that money on things like rock walls, and a "Day Spa."
