>My other side couldn't disagree more strongly. A significant percentage >of undergrads should really be in some kind of 2-year trade school >instead.
Ahhh... But then you have to deal with the very empirical evidence that kicked this whole discussion off. If you think that people are making irrational (essentially random) decisions to go to school then the OLS estimates of the rate of return are right and the real returns to education are the best you can get anywhere. You may not think that they are getting much out of college, but the average return to each additional year of education is very high. If you think they are behaving rationally ... Now I won't argue that some people who get two years of college and then drop out without a degree might not have been better off getting a two year degree of certification, but the first order effect is something like at least a 6.5% increase in income for each year of school completed whether you get a degree or not. - - Bill
