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Fixing Higher Education

http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Catie/Where%20We%20Live%2003-27-2012.mp3

Playing to a red-meat conservative crowd, Rick Santorum called President Obama a “snob” for saying people should go to college.

This statement - and others like it about the liberal “indoctrination” that happens on college campuses - obviously set off millions of educated Americans.

And not just because the value of higher education was being challenged - but because his statement flies in the face of everything we know about what people need to get jobs in America.

Those with college degrees get jobs more readily - and those jobs pay better wages.  

But this quote from the New York Times - a paper Santorum considers equally snobby - speaks to a new, uncomfortable reality:

“Employment rates for new college graduates have fallen sharply in the last two years, as have starting salaries for those who can find work.”

Yikes.  So what kind of college education are we getting? What is it’s real value?

We’ll continue our education series with two authors that will consider higher education in America.

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