Richard Vedder: The Great College Degree Scam

[mochafudgetruffle]

College used to be just for the wealthy. Over the past 50 years, the middle classes and poor have entered college in increasing numbers. College degrees don't have the same value anymore because they are far more common. Many good jobs don't really require college. Colleges are selling degree programs (such as sociology, anthropology, etc) that are essentially worthless.

[centurion180ad]

Sorry. There is no Free Market, what-so-ever.

There is no direct correlation between knowledge & production. You can’t eat a doctorate.

The cost of degree ought to be related to the amount of production it will increase in a person. If a degree imparts no production, then it ought to cost no more than a student’s room & board.

Corporations discriminate against productive people, and ought to be sued out of existance.

[centurion180ad]

America is TOTALLY fucked up.

Criminality is everywhere and into everything.

Tuition is going up & up, because it is RACKETEERING.

If a degree is worthless in economic terms, then its price should be near ZERO.

If a young person wants to be rich, they should smuggle #4 heroin or cocaine for the bankers.

If a university wants to teach real world skills, they should teach CIA sadism and torture, how to traffic black market body parts or children, how to plunder foreign oil.

[Jesusdied2pay4yrsins]

Nursing programs in Canada definitely fit this description. I've attended both LPN & RN programs, & at BEST, 15% of the classes are remotely useful/medical information. The rest of the material is essentially filler in an effort to make Nursing appear academic. Even superiors admit "it's about the money". I feel the Nursing programs I attended were a HUGE waste of my time & money. A "Bachelor of Nursing Science" degree involves almost NO science. These programs reduced my respect for nurses.

[LilRedRasta]

Oh and loans are the reason why tuition is increasing. If no one could get a loan then no one would go to college. Thus, the colleges who are dealing with less demand would be forced to lower prices to get at least some revenue. Also the would have incentive to budget, cut cost, and provide better service.

[LilRedRasta]

Oh and thankyou!! Loans from the government is a big part in why college is atcually so expensive. If every one can get an infinite amount of loans from the government, then colleges raise prices, since they know that students can borrow any amount of money to go to their school. If no one could get a loan then no one would go to college. The colleges would have to lower prices due to less demand.

[LilRedRasta]

College Is also not geared towards more right brain students. It's all geared towards left brain information decoding, structure based, students. It comes to a point where you just regurgitate facts and that makes you smart. Pshhh please.

[Beulah502]

Vedder makes and intellectually honest look at advanced education and the value of it.

Byron Larson

[cesar1963able]

It's too bad this guy looks goofy, and appears to be on drugs or something. He makes a lot of sense. But since he is not beautiful, and can't deliver a wonderful speech, people won't take him seriously.

[ped200014]

if college course are becoming more and more lame in there attempt to attract more people, doesn't that highlight the very failure of capitalism, at least in terms of education, itself.

[MrDevilsadvocate696]

Father time is drastically downplaying the anemic job creation in present day America. I agree with all other points though.

[JP5466]

Is that guy blind, or just cross eyed?

[CollegeReform]

Colleges need drastic reforms! Let's start a movement to change things. Type Reform Higher Education Now in the search box on Facebook or click CollegeReform below.

[willterryart]

Great video - I'm a part time college teacher at a university in Utah - I've been bothered by these issues for quite some time. I'm trying to council my own children but it's an uphill battle with my wife. My primary income is from my illustration business so I'm definitely more business minded than the professors who hired me. To them there is no problem - I can't get them to even think talk about it.

[CollegeReform]

@willterryart I'm bothered by them too! I invite you to check out my page on the topic. Type Reform Higher Education Now in the search box on Facebook or click CollegeReform below.

[badams48]

Very informative.