Jeff Stahler for April 18, 2014

Best way to pay for a college education: major in something that will actually help you get a job.If you want to major in basket weaving or Women’s Studies, that’s fine. But, unless you’ve got cash up front, plan on paying student loans, till you retire.

Best way to pay for a college education — go to college back in the 1980s, when America still believed in funding education for our citizens. Even if you major in medicine or engineering, you won’t be able to pay that debt off for decades, because wages are not going up at the rate of education costs. And what kind of country have we become where people like Doctor No condemn talented musicians and artists and tell them they’re not deserving of an education in the field they excel in? “Sorry, you ought to drive haul trucks, that’s where the money is.”

There’s something wrong with an economic system that requires a college degree and makes it impossible to get one.

I agree with you completely — but…When I was young (well, college age — that seems pretty young to me now) I was part of an educational experiment which was based on teaching the “how” without much “what”. It didn’t work, at least for me. It was like trying to make fire by rubbing imaginary sticks together. I rebelled, left the program, and went into classics, where we have lots and lots of “what” to learn. By learning that “what”, however, it’s possible to learn “how” the “what” gets to be “what”, and thus “how” a new “what” can be developed. As always, balance is good.

Rather than keep responding to individual comments, I’ll leave some general observations.I seem to recall that students were supposed to have at least a rough hewn ability to learn & analyze by the 12th grade. Some would go into low skilled jobs, some would go into a program to learn a trade, a few would go into formal, higher education for specialized knowledge. The demand for specialized knowledge is much greater than it was even 30 years ago. The laws of supply & demand made it inevitable that the suppliers of specialized knowledge (aka universities) would be more valuable. Not all degrees hold equal economic value. Disagree all you want, but it doesn’t change the facts.If you want to major in Victorian Literature, go ahead. But, don’t expect me to subsidize it & don’t expect great job prospects to be accompany that degree.If you want to be a knowledgable, well rounded person, college is hardly the only way of getting there. I know plenty of people with college degrees, who stopped learning the minute they threw their caps in the air. I know some High School dropouts who are incredibly well read, articulate, with strong reasoning skills. We’ve long since moved past the era when universities were the only knowledge centers. Talented musicians & artists have always struggled to make a living. What’s interesting, is that most of the great artists & musicians, never went to college (or dropped out). Most learned what they needed by finding someone to teach them outside of the formal education system. I might argue that sending all of our musicians & artists to college, is the best way to stifle their creativity by indoctrinating them with what schools think they should learn & how they should do things.More people can afford a college education than ever. Those talking about the idea that college shouldn’t just be about going into a lucrative career, have a point. A lot of the practical skills that used to be learned through trade schools & apprenticeships, have been co-opted by the university system. That drives up the price for everyone.

Cutting off education to the masses is a tactic in a dictatorship or fascist government. Educated masses are a threat because these people think for themselves and might not agree with the government. Making education a privilege of the rich man takes us backward in time to indentured servants and poor houses, putting only rich men in charge. Just because you’re rich doesn’t make you a noble person.