Is College Worth It?: A Former United States Secretary of Education and a Liberal Arts Graduate Expose the Broken Promise of Higher Education

by William J. Bennett, David Wilezol

Overview

Is college worth the ever-increasing cost?

From the mouths of politicians and parents alike, the notion that "everyone should go to college" is conventional wisdom in America. Yet half of today's college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. They have little to show for their time in school but a massive amount of student-loan debt and an education that's left them unprepared for the workplace.

For anyone making a decision about their educational and financial future, Is College Worth It? is an indispensable guide. Former United States Secretary of Education William Bennett and humanities graduate student David Wilezol offer clear-eyed analysis and practical advice that goes far beyond glossy admissions brochures and convoluted financial-aid paperwork. You'll discover:

• Which colleges offer a good return on your investment, and which ones don't
• How student-loan debt impacts your real-world finances
• What the intellectual climate is really like inside many of today's universities
• A wealth of higher education alternatives to a traditional four-year degree

 

Is college worth it isn't a question to be answered by educators and economists alone. It is also one that students and parents need to answer for themselves in order to secure an education, and a future?that is as responsible as it is rewarding.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781595554222
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	05/14/2013
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	976 KB

About the Author

Dr. William J. Bennett is one of America's most influential and respected voices on cultural, political, and educational issues. Host of "The Bill Bennett Show" podcast, he is also the Washington Fellow of the American Strategy Group. He is the author and editor of more than twenty-five books, and lives in North Carolina.

Table of Contents

The Truth about College vii

Introduction xi

1 The Borrowing Binge 1

2 Creating a Financial Monster 21

3 So Is It Worth It? 71

4 The Lower Side of Higher Ed 123

5 With Eyes Wide-Open 161

Twelve Hypothetical Scenarios 205

Schools Worth Attending 217

Acknowledgments 227

Notes 231

Index 263

Editorial Reviews

The College Board reported recently that a "moderate" college budget for an in-state public college is $22,261; for a private college, the price tag is nearly doubled. Multiply that by four and you have a sudden, frightening sense of the realization that confronts every high school student and their parents as graduation nears. In Is College Worth It?, former United States Secretary of Education William J. Bennett and current graduate student David Wilezol answer the question looming in the back of millions of American minds. Their responses are not always affirmative; indeed, their frank discussions about runaway tuition costs, uneven academics, political indoctrination, and poor graduation rates add necessary elements of trepidation to family decision-making. An education in itself.

In a charged exchange, radio host and Washington insider Bennett (Morning in America, America: The Last Best Hope; A Century Turns: New Hope New Fears) asks the question "Is college worth it?" while coauthor and graduate student Wilezol (associate producer, Morning in America) retorts with "the broken promise of higher education," in a conversation volley that's sure to ruffle some feathers. Phrases such as "paltry amount of learning," "fantasyland," "lower impulses," "morally adrift," and "chains of student debt" are peppered throughout the text as the authors outline the folly of encouraging college for everyone and overlooking the value of a top-notch high school education, trade schools, apprenticeships, and online courses. Controversial statistics and statements are cited in endnotes, although the sources range from government reports to opinion pieces and blog posts that sometimes make it hard to determine fact from opinion. VERDICT Readers expecting an evenhanded discussion of the benefits and risks of a traditional college education will be disappointed. Mildly useful for students and families beginning to explore post-high school options to maximize employment potential and minimize college tuition debt.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley Sch., Fort Worth, TX

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