In today’s New York Times Room for Debate feature, the topic is how much college students learn. It was prompted by a recent book concluding that many college students learn little or nothing. I’m one of six contributors, but there is remarkably little debate. Apparently the editors at the Times could not find anyone willing to argue that the authors are mistaken and college students really are learning a great deal.
It’s often said that the U.S. is such a wealthy nation because we “invest” so much in the education of our citizens, but the truth is actually the other way around. Only a very wealthy nation could afford to have an educational system that costs so much and delivers so little as ours does.
