I think the problem is that 4-year degrees are showing the level of technical competency in an individual that high school once did.
I see these second and third year college students who can barely read and write in the English language and they are getting B's and C's. Many college graduates have math skills that really should be considered "high school" level (I don't believe there should be such a thing as "college algebra")
If we increased the standards for high-school diplomas to "general basic modern workforce skills" like being able to count out change correctly, capability to send an email with correct punctuation, capitalization and spelling, and without any "txt" abbreviations, we'd probably have less people passing high-school, but the college crop would be a hell of a lot more worthwhile.
For those who can't make the cut for college there's technical training out there. But you cannot convince me that some of these people (a lot of them upper middle class and planning on skating by on daddy's money) are really going to benefit from a four year degree.
So if you want to talk about making education free for students (and I do think there's a strong case to be made here, as it's a cultural investment that has a massive effect on domestic economics: take a look at Taiwan) you have to sit down and think about what you really mean by that.
I see these second and third year college students who can barely read and write in the English language and they are getting B's and C's. Many college graduates have math skills that really should be considered "high school" level (I don't believe there should be such a thing as "college algebra")
If we increased the standards for high-school diplomas to "general basic modern workforce skills" like being able to count out change correctly, capability to send an email with correct punctuation, capitalization and spelling, and without any "txt" abbreviations, we'd probably have less people passing high-school, but the college crop would be a hell of a lot more worthwhile.
For those who can't make the cut for college there's technical training out there. But you cannot convince me that some of these people (a lot of them upper middle class and planning on skating by on daddy's money) are really going to benefit from a four year degree.
So if you want to talk about making education free for students (and I do think there's a strong case to be made here, as it's a cultural investment that has a massive effect on domestic economics: take a look at Taiwan) you have to sit down and think about what you really mean by that.