[ebiester]

So, let's say that you're getting poor grades in pre-med. You're already 30,000 in debt. Is it better to continue in a degree where you have no chance of further advancement (no medical school will take you), drop out and have absolutely no career leads and a pile of debt, or get a second rate degree?

This is the problem -- we've raised the bar for failure so high because of the cost of going to college. We've made it so that college degrees of any kind are a requirement to advance into white collar work. What's the solution when someone can't hack it in STEM?

[chantech]

Sunk costs are sunk costs. You quit and move on to something that doesn't incur more debt. One option is joining the military where you can get real-world experience and they'll pay a significant portion of future education. Another is taking base courses at a significantly cheaper community college until you understand what you want to do and whether you have the natural ability for it.

The core problem is taking on 30k of debt without the commitment and/or natural ability necessary to complete the degree.

[reader5000]

The core problem is exploiting inelastic demand in charging 30k for something that could be provided at 2k.

[eru]

You are not paying for the education, you are paying for the signalling. And the signalling is basically auction.

[reader5000]

I 100% agree you're paying for the signalling. But it's not an auction. Unless by auction you mean "the seller gets the government to pay upfront any price the seller chooses, and the government and buyer (student) get to work it out later as they see fit".

[eru]

Oh, it's an auction in the sense that the students bid for education-signalling. With their money and their (prep-) time.