In asking the subject's question, I should point out that I hold several university degress. My last degree was a Ph.D. from Stanford that I got in 1984. I would have been unable to pursue the career path that I did without my university degrees. However if my son wanted to pursue a nonacademic career and apprentice himself to a journeyman, I think I would encourage him.

I have two issues with where the university system is going:

1) I do not think a university degree pays back in career prospects as much as it costs in terms of time and money.

2) The erosion of academic standards is slowly destroying what ever value was originally attached to a university degree.

Grade inflation is another example of social standards being eroded away. If everyone gets an "A" then there is no way of determining who knows the material and who does not. People who actually understand the material receive the same credential as those that do not. Grade inflation rewards the lazy and incompetent.

I find it interesting that SAT and GRE tests are becoming "politically incorrect", viz. they're racist, etc. These standardized tests are the only real criteria remaining for selecting entering university students. Once these test have been discredited then the only basis for student selection will be how much their parents are prepared to pay in tuition and skin color.

Of course this erosion of basic standards attacks the very core of our civilization.

Gary