Why we shouldn't listen to those college naysayers

Kent Pekel of the University of Minnesota and Dane Smith of Growth & Justice explain in the Star Tribune why succumbing to the “Is College Worth It?” mentality — fostered by many recent articles and commentaries — is dangerous:

Allowing these nuances and footnotes to foster a new public policy fad — along the lines that “higher education is not for everyone” — does a disservice to many young people who desperately need the education premium to join a middle class that today is based squarely on obtaining postsecondary credentials, whether from a community college or an online college or an Ivy League university.

Read their full commentary here.

About the blogger

Alex Friedrich

afriedrich@mpr.org

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.