The Patriot Post® · In Brief: The Dangerous Myth of the College Degree
College isn’t for everyone, and it shouldn’t be. For one thing, we need workers in numerous trades that don’t require degrees, and for another, games like Joe Biden is playing with student loans will only make a college education even more ridiculously expensive. Virginia Foxx, who represents North Carolina’s fifth congressional district, writes on the subject:
For over a decade, American society believed that a college degree was the guaranteed ticket to success and upward mobility. Through the 2010s, the college degree-for-all mentality evolved from a mantra repeated in Democratic circles to the national attitude of our nation’s parents and K–12 students.
The mentality was first adopted by Democratic politicians and powered by the media. In 2009, then-president Barack Obama launched the initiative in his inaugural address, pronouncing that “by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”
Not only was President Obama wrong in his prediction, but he was also fundamentally wrong in his premise. College degree-for-all is a myth, and a harmful one at that.
The myth is built in three parts. One part is academic. Another is moral. And the last is economic.
Foxx systematically makes her case, beginning with the academic reason and the lie that “universities are the sole talent-producing institutions in America.” That can’t be true, in part she says, because “nearly two-thirds of Americans age 25 and older do not possess a bachelor’s degree,” and that list contains some major notables. In fact:
Job creators are shifting their hiring practices toward skills-based qualifications, recognizing that a broader talent pipeline is essential for filling in-demand, well-paying careers.
[Elon] Musk has abandoned baccalaureate requirements for his companies. Governors in ten states have as well for state-government jobs. Like dominoes, more states are shaking the notion that college is the lone forum to learn in this country.
As for the moral reason, Foxx explains:
Education, properly understood, should prepare citizens to participate in the act of self-governance — to be productive members of their communities and society.
College degree-for-all flips the “good” of education on its head. When we insist that every American go to college, the promise becomes a box to check, not a formative experience for citizens of a republic. When college itself becomes the barometer for success — not actual success — the inherent value of postsecondary education is lost in an over-credentialization craze, and the college mission is subverted.
Finally, she makes the case that it’s a myth to think “college is a prudent investment for all.”
College is failing to meet the demands of the modern workforce more each day. Over 10 million jobs remain unfilled in the United States. Advancements in technology, industries, and the global market are having profound impacts on our economy, and these impacts require a flexible workforce able to reskill and upskill for in-demand jobs.
Where apprenticeships, skills-focused schools, and on-the-job educations are flexible, colleges are not. Too often, colleges are unaligned with the needs of employers in their job markets.
She concludes:
Dispelling the three college degree-for-all myths does not mean that the entire postsecondary system should come crashing down like a house of cards. To the contrary, college serves an important societal role and is a good option for some.
But not for all.
By dispelling the college degree-for-all myth, we can begin to invest in workforce-development programs for the modern economy.