Higher (lack of) education

Another case of misdiagnosis, both of problem and solution:

Americans are losing their edge in a global economy because not enough young people are graduating from college, according to a report released today by a higher education think tank...

``The report card's findings challenge the notion that the American higher education system is still the `best in the world,' '' said James B. Hunt Jr., chairman of the National Center's board of directors and former North Carolina governor.

``In such key areas as college access and completion, the U.S. has made little or no progress, while other countries have made substantial gains,'' Hunt said...

About 35 percent of the nation's 18- to 24-year-olds attend college, placing the United States fourth internationally and earning it a B in participation, the report said. Yet only 17 of 100 college students receive a degree or certificate, placing the United States behind at least 14 other countries, including Japan (the international leader), Portugal, Ireland and Iceland. In California, 14 of every 100 college students will obtain a certificate or degree, on par with completion rates in Mexico.

The real problem with this study is it assumes if more people completed college it would increase the U.S. economic competitive edge. That's a big assumption, considering many curricula today seems more obsessed with transgenderism than trigonometry. The first two years of college today are spent either learning material that should have been mastered in high school (see English 101 and Consumer Math syllabi), or deconstructing the student's value system so they are more open to the indoctrination process (see Freshman orientation and all required "sensitivity" and/or "multicultural" training). None of this translates to practical advantage in the real world.

Even sadder, the students who stick it out and graduate to the job market often do so saddled with debt, for which they received only a dubious education. It's the ultimate con job. Student loans upwards of $80,000 are not unheard of. Instead of spending most of their working life paying off such notes, perhaps would-be students should forego college and invest the money instead. Earning a modest 10 percent a year, $80,000 would yield $1,395,952.18 in 30 years...allowing the non-college graduate to retire comfortably at the ripe age of 48. Now THERE'S a competitive economic advantage. Too bad the power of compound interest isn't always in the required curriculum...