Since I wrote #290:
I did NOT argue that everyone should have a 4-year degree. Rather, that college should be as readily available as high school was 100 years ago.
(In 1900, about 6% students completed HS; in 1906-1910, HS access and affordability went through a major policy push due to three needs: nationalism/integration,economic growth, and individual emancipation. That push was forceful and successful: They were around 35%, where we are wrt 4-year college graduation, around 1930. In the 1950s, completing HS became the norm for American youth, yielding enormous economic gains and soft power.
For further information, here’s an economics paper by Harvard:
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:2664307)
Our society WILL need more college graduates but we’ll still need fulfillment center/fast food/retail workers, we’ll still need delivery and truck drivers (in the foreseable future at least), old age carers… Not everyone is suited for college studies nor is interested.
However the number of jobs that do not require a college degree (AS, Certificate, BS, BA) has shrunk. “Entry level” typically requires some post-HS studies and a BS/BA’s signaling value is there to stay. So, if you want any sort of stable job, if you want to be middle class (even lower middle class), you need a college degree. By definition, some people won’t be middle class. But we don’t have castes, supposedly American society starts with the premise that if you work hard to can improve your lot. College is it. (You can work the fries at McDonald’s 60 hours a week and still make less than 30K a year.)
The thread deals only with students who are qualified and interested in college (and keep in mind many of us have argued for trades and certificates/AS): what should it cost so they can attend a public university/a CC?
100 years ago, you could start as a teacher or accountant with a high school diploma - it’s totally impossible nowadays.
In addition, just like horsegrooms and blacksmiths, which were commonplace, are now close to defunct, so are we in a time of change.
College is the way to adapt to the 21st century - not just individually but collectively.
Do you really think China is investing billions in Higher Education, pushing more and more students to further education colleges and universities, creating entire universities, offering full rides to students from African and Asian countries, because they’re bleeding-heart liberals? It’s become a huge strategic stake.