For Most People, College Is a Waste of Time (Charles Murray, Wall Street Journal op/ed)Imagine that America had no system of post-secondary education, and you were a member of a task force assigned to create one from scratch. One of your colleagues submits this proposal:
First, we will set up a single goal to represent educational success, which will take four years to achieve no matter what is being taught. We will attach an economic reward to it that seldom has anything to do with what has been learned. We will urge large numbers of people who do not possess adequate ability to try to achieve the goal, wait until they have spent a lot of time and money, and then deny it to them. We will stigmatize everyone who doesn't meet the goal. We will call the goal a "BA."
You would conclude that your colleague was cruel, not to say insane. But that's the system we have in place.
Murray's proposed solution? Certification exams in various competencies, modeled on the CPA exam and similar professional licensure schemes, which wouldn't require a degree (or even a traditional college education) to sit for. You want to prep by taking online classes or just sitting in a public library and reading books? Fine!
I think the man has a good point here.
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