[marktangotango]

Even that methodology is flawed. Walmart has a lot of store manager/assistant managers that do quite well with high school diplomas or GEDs. Smart motivated people also do well starting businesses or working in trades. The incessant narrative that a college degree as the path to prosperity is tired and worn and rightly perceived as bogus imo.

University is now a business, and the product is degrees and "college experience", the customers are students. The product has suffered; degrees are no longer rigorous. Teaching faculty have suffered; tenure tracks has disappeared in favor of adjunct part time faculty. Students suffer under mountains of debt. The only winners are the legions of administrators. Some schools have as many as 1 administrator per 1 student. It's absurd.

[shanebellone]

"Walmart has a lot of store manager/assistant managers that do quite well with high school diplomas or GEDs. Smart motivated people also do well starting businesses or working in trades. The incessant narrative that a college degree as the path to prosperity is tired and worn and rightly perceived as bogus imo."

I am both a graduate school and high school dropout. A motivated individual could replace university with a library and Internet connection. However, proving one's knowledge can be more difficult than acquiring it. A degree makes it easier to communicate and demonstrate skill.