My fiancée is currently going to college for the first time. She went directly from high school to retail management and by 25 was effectively COO of a store, managing several hundred people at a business grossing $1M+ a week.
And, now, at 30, she is working towards becoming a therapist (the hours in retail suhhhhk). It's going to take six years of her life to switch (four years for her BA and two more for a Masters). And in the first two years of school, exactly 15 of those 60 credits will be in Psychology. She's spending the majority of her time and money on classes that not only don't pertain to her major, they don't pertain to real life.
She's currently learning how to factor polynomial equations in Algebra. Show of hands from people who don't teach math who have ever factored a polynomial equation as an adult.
She's also learning the science behind phylogenetic trees in Biology 2. Show of hands from people who aren't research biologists who have ever engaged in phylogenetic analysis as an adult.
If you're 18, you probably haven't been exposed to a whole lot of career options in your young life. It's wonderful to explore everything a liberal arts education offers and see what you might truly wish to engage in for the rest of your life. Actually, who am I kidding -- see what you might wish to engage in for the next ten year before you change careers (perhaps voluntarily, perhaps not).
A liberal arts education is also becoming more and more a luxury item.
Someone receiving an in-state CU Boulder education will spend between $54,000 and $77,000 on tuition, and another $80,000 in room and board. Those costs are simply unfathomable for a good, but typical, state school education. Oh, and a Masters is an extra $30,000 in tuition.
Given that my fiance was making $60k/yr, the total cost (direct and opportunity) to become a therapist will approach $500,000, not including living expenses. Half. A Million. Dollars.
I one-hundred-percent back her play (did I mention how much the hours in retail suck?), but this is insanity. This is what higher education asks of students now. This is what too many vocations still require of its practitioners. Something has to give before an entire nation collapses under the absurd weight and cost of college degrees.
Ian Bogost's interview is interesting because it illustrates how entrenched and perhaps unalterable higher education is, by its very design. As a result, the solution will probably not come from within existing institutions. If there was ever a time to consider disrupting higher ed, that time is NOW.
Game on!