College’s Declining Value Leads to Low Enrollments

Inflated tuition, worthless degrees, and heavy student debt mean many 18-year-olds don’t see the value of a college degree.

A recent study among faculty and students asked if the cost of higher education is a major issue. Surprisingly, nearly half of the faculty strongly agreed, while less than a third of the students strongly agreed.

The explanation for the large difference was probably due to the way we fund higher education. While learned professors understand the value of money, young students mostly do not. More importantly, students don’t believe that they will pay the advertised price. And of course, they are right.

From the student’s standpoint, the university states the price. Then the college or university offers a series of discounts, usually in the form of scholarships, depending on their view of how well the student would fit in at the school. If a student was a star quarterback, for instance, he would fit well at any school with a football program.

Depending on the school athletic department’s judgment of the contribution the student would make to the team, his discount is determined. It could be as high as 100%.

Other more typical students are judged by their academic achievements and other activities that show something about the character…