Book Review: Is College Worth It? {BookSneeze}

Is College Worth It? by William J. Bennett with David Wilezol
ISBN: 9781595552792
Available in print or ebook format
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Retail: $22.99

About the book (from Thomas Nelson):

Explores the answer to a critical question: Should we keep sending our kids to college?

The American system of higher education comprises some of the best universities, teachers, and students the world has ever seen. Millions of students around the globe want nothing more in their life than to attend an American university. However, many of America’s colleges and universities today have serious academic, institutional, and other performance problems, and it is quickly approaching a crisis point, if it’s not there already. Despite some excellent colleges and quality programs at many colleges, too much of higher education is wildly expensive. Students often graduate having learned little, or don’t graduate at all. They are indoctrinated with liberal politics and subjected to all types of non-academic distractions. For these reasons, many students would be better served exploring other educational alternatives.

In Is College Worth It?, William J. Bennett and David Wilezol assess the problems of American higher education at various levels, from runaway costs to inferior academics to poor graduation rates to political indoctrination, and propose serious reforms and alternative methods for improving higher education so that it better serves our students.

My thoughts:

Very good book!  It is a rather short book, or so it seems because it is written well and flows right along. I liked the tone of the book as well. Although not necessarily against college, the authors definitely give excellent reasons to not go. 

My daughter is going into her junior year this coming school year and college has long been on her mind. It was one of those societal pressures: you will go to college. But she (and I) felt that there really wasn't/isn't a need for her to do so. A quote from the book:

"With new technology and online breakthroughs, you could get a better education in a coffee shop or your parents' basement than you will get at most colleges." 

 True!

Here is a huge issue I personally had while finishing up college (I graduated with a BA in 2011 after a very long college 'career'):

"In today's colleges, much of what is taught in the humanities and social sciences is nonsense (or nonsense on stilts), politically tendentious, and worth little in the marketplace and for the enrichment of your mind or soul."

I would prefer both of my kids were able to get an apprenticeship than go to college. So perhaps I'm a bit biased when it came to reading this book. The book goes through a lot of history of college attendance in the US. Who went, why they went, how they paid for it, what jobs they were able to get afterward, etc. A large portion of the book though deals with the debt that is racked up by *everyone going to college. The debt long ago surpassed the credit card debt in the US. As a person who now has student loans to be paid back, I can relate to the debt. I definitely don't wish that for either of my kids. And we, their parents, definitely cannot pay for it.

The authors feature the government's involvement in this situation as well. An unchecked student lending program has created what Bennett and Wilezol feel is another bubble about to burst! (think of the real estate bubble in the 2000s) Bennett says "Higher education is not underfunded. It is under-accountable." They compare and contrast the government lending program with private banks and lending agencies. The difference in recovered loans for the private banks and lending agencies is quite impressive. The government's recovered loans is rather unimpressive. 

There is a section on the return on investment for different occupations compared to different colleges (I do not have a physical book or I'd reference the page numbers) and it was surprising. The authors also talk about why to go to college, and which ones to go to. I especially liked that in a book that from the outset really sounds down on college, presents the other side. The last section in the book highlights their top picks for college, based on religion, reputation, major (technical and engineering), state and private schools, even for-profit universities. 

And on one more note- they recommend the military academies in that list. The Army (West Point), Navy (Annapolis), Coast Guard and Air Force. As a mother whose son is looking at the Marines when he's out of school, I was happy to see the endorsement. 

Again, I thought this was a really good book. It has a lot of numbers and statistics- stick with it if you start to zone out at that point- it's not all numbers. They have legitimate reasons for not choosing college as well as real solutions. There is a section of Scenarios for just about any one looking at going to college and their advice in those situations. 

It's already been decided that my daughter will not be pursuing college, at least not right out of high school if ever, and this book was quite helpful in putting my mind at ease on that front. 

***Disclaimer: I received the book referenced above as an ebook free for this review from BookSneeze. No monetary compensation was given and all opinions are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***