[omarkatzen]

College is like white horses or expensive sports or boats. It's a positional good into which the wealthy will sink endless resources.

The essential cost of a college education is not very high. However, increasing the price of the degree can also increase the perceived value of it, since what people really want (they won't say it, it's not socially acceptable) is access to a higher social class.

[klochner]

If you read the article, he argues that the essential cost is high given the services provided: housing, healthcare, education, etc.

Imagine you're going on vacation for four years. How much would that cost? Right, if you compare that to college, you would say college really is quite cheap. Now, it's an educated vacation; you get lots of things, but the amount of stuff that you're getting is really quite incredible, so the experience is amazing. I don't think it's expensive for what you're getting.

[robobro]

But college shouldn't be going on vacation for four years. It should be lectures, essays, reading, and exams. All this is not too expensive to supply.

I'm sure you think the high prices on textbooks and medicine are well deserved too?