Tony Boutin: For many, a college education just is not worth the money

To The Daily Sun,

Do we have the chutzpah to ask the hard questions? Questions sure to ruffle the feathers of many, especially those in education.

Even before the pandemic, millions of families were questioning a college degree, given it’s huge cost and time commitment. The lifetime wage earnings differential of a degreed person over a high school graduate has never been less. The degreed wage advantage has shrunk like an ice cube on a hot stove while the number of students attempting a degree, but failing to get one sets records while the attempt has ruined million of lives.

Still, in this backdrop, society and surely those employed in the sprawling, swamp of education dependent on a non-stop, cattle drive of high sschool students sell the degree path as a panacea to enlightenment, happiness and financial nirvana.

Never have more people been working in jobs that don’t require a degree than today. Millions and millions of workers making the identical wage they could be absent a degree while drowning in student debt, and near a half dozen lost work years “degree hunting.” Lost time at the beginning, where the harm is greatest, given the time value of money.

A college degreed person has to produce hundreds of thousands in extra lifetime earnings just to BREAK EVEN with a person who does not, while Democratic politicians do all they can to bury these truths because the education industry and the Democratic Party have an incestuous financial relationship of corruption, common interests and crony “educationism” to keep the degree sham alive.

None of the millions who work in education are making these facts clear. A massive, conflict of interest between educations own financial security and that of others prevents the truth from emerging. Every high school grad must to be a “mark” for college no matter half who go are not and were never college material. Even socialist Finland provides free college to only the top third of high school grads.

The pandemic blows all pretense off this con game. Education has rushed to remote learning under the guise it’s as good as face-to-face. I would agree, it probably is. If It isn’t, it sure can be. Millions dependent on educations status quo don’t want “remote” to plow under what is the ultra-expensive, ultra-liberal, ultra-elite campus experience they relish as much for themselves as students. Nothing like “remote learning” offers the possibility of “education equality.” It can be supplied at a tiny fraction of the on campus, frat party version.

State and local funding for colleges last year exceeded $100 billion. One third of all revenue for universities comes from state and local sources. Not only are tuition payers tortured by inefficient, high cost on campus, education but taxpayers are bled dry as well. This education robbery CAN be stopped. And, why not remote for parts of public schools as well? Or has remote learning simply been a ruse by public education to save all summer off? Taxpayers need to DEMAND ANSWERS. They will come with little measured, factual insight. Your going to be told what education wants you to hear that’s in their BEST INTERESTS. Its why the cost of education never goes DOWN.

Tony Boutin

Gilford