Before I went to college, higher education received the reverence of some sort of religious institution. Not only would attending college/grad school guarantee easy middle class living, it was the Path. Universities were these Higher Grounds, noble and humble institutions pursuing the best of the human spirit.
Then they sack you with six figures of non-dischargeable debt and you're back living with your parents sending out resumes.
I don't think a "bubble" is the appropriate term, I think "exploitation" is better. The value that universities provide (either as learning environments or signalling systems) is nowhere near commensurate with their costs to young people. Young people have no idea though: they don't know the performance of the university in terms of enhancing graduates' incomes nor what a reasonable level of education debt is. And universities are completely negligent (and in some cases outright deceptive) in providing this info to incoming students.
Education debt WILL be made dischargeable in bankruptcy again, there is simply too much pressure (edu debt is larger than credit card debt). When it does, you can expect tuition rates to plummet, back in line to their real net present values. In my opinion this could not happen soon enough.
The university comes from an era that never really existed of large, stable corporations providing steady employment to "educated" worker bees. The university was the 0-cost-to-employer filtering system to ensure Big Co highers the best people. That model simply doesnt make sense anymore.
Then they sack you with six figures of non-dischargeable debt and you're back living with your parents sending out resumes.
I don't think a "bubble" is the appropriate term, I think "exploitation" is better. The value that universities provide (either as learning environments or signalling systems) is nowhere near commensurate with their costs to young people. Young people have no idea though: they don't know the performance of the university in terms of enhancing graduates' incomes nor what a reasonable level of education debt is. And universities are completely negligent (and in some cases outright deceptive) in providing this info to incoming students.
Education debt WILL be made dischargeable in bankruptcy again, there is simply too much pressure (edu debt is larger than credit card debt). When it does, you can expect tuition rates to plummet, back in line to their real net present values. In my opinion this could not happen soon enough.
The university comes from an era that never really existed of large, stable corporations providing steady employment to "educated" worker bees. The university was the 0-cost-to-employer filtering system to ensure Big Co highers the best people. That model simply doesnt make sense anymore.