Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

There has been much talk recently about reducing the  price of college. Most government actions, however, increase the price.

There has been much talk recently about the price (see note) of a college education. This is supposed to be one of the reasons of the Occupy this-street-and-that-street Movement. The Washington Post has an editorial on the topic.

Here are a few suggestions on reducing the price of a college education. I doubt that we will see these adopted.

1. Bring back the two-year teacher’s college and degree. A person does not need four years of college to qualify to teach American History in high school. If you passed American History in high school and take four courses (one each semester for two years) of education practice (not theory by practice) you are qualified. See Second Note.

2. Eliminate many of the four-year degrees awarded by colleges today. (A Bachelor’s Degree in Film Studies? Are you kidding?) Persons are going into debt to obtain a degree for which there are no jobs.

These actions reduce the number of persons attempting a four-year college degree.

Reduced demand will bring down the prices. This is called the Law of Supply and Demand. If a person took Introduction to Economics in college, they would have been exposed to this law.

The frequently tried and failed government solution is to give money to colleges and students. When you put money into a system, you raise the price of the goods in that system. Even the Washington Post mentions this (“federal aid has had the perverse effect of enabling tuition hikes”). Their mention, however, is just that – a little mention.

Education and and School:

Fewer people will be pursuing four-year college degrees. The cry, however, is that America needs more educated people. I agree. I believe there is a difference between education and school (of which college is a type). America needs more educated people. America does not need more and bigger schools. The inefficiency of America’s schools today is staggering. Let’s fix the system. Then again, in time, it will collapse from its own bloat. All we need is the government to remove artificial school requirements.

Note:

Given the state of ignorance in newspapers these days, it is not surprising that they discuss the cost of education. It is not the cost, but the price that affects consumers. Price = cost + profit. Yes, there is profit in education.

Second Note:

I have a PhD in Engineering. I took all sorts of mathematics in college. Under the current system, I am not qualified to teach Algebra in high school. I would have to take at least a year of education theory classes in college to qualify.