What's Your Kid Getting From College?

Most college debt amounts to that of buying a new Prius--about $28,000--says this author in today's WSJ, but it's the wrong question. What are they getting in exchange for their (your) money?

"At WhatWillTheyLearn.com, students can click onto ACTA's recent survey of more than 1,000 American four-year institutions—and find out how their colleges and universities rate. Two findings jump out. First, the more costly the college, the less likely it will require a demanding core curriculum. Second, public institutions generally do better here than private ones—and historically black colleges such as Morehouse and service academies such as West Point amount to what ACTA calls "hidden gems."

McGurn: What's Your Kid Getting From College? - WSJ.com

But whatever the Occupiers are protesting (and many have absolutely no idea), it's misplaced. It's not the banks' fault their parents and teachers let them slide; that they spent more time on gaming or gaming the system or shooting the breeze at the union than they did hitting the books; that they choose a major without ever checking out the facts about the job opportunities. The ability to communicate either orally or in writing or both is still critical, unless the student plans to live at home in mom's basement and sell internet ads--and for that he doesn't need a $250,000 Harvard education.