American Thinker: On Oct. 14 last year at Steyn Online, Mr. Steyn ran a diverting little article on the 20-year-old flick “Good Will Hunting.” Not having screened the film, I probably wouldn’t have read the piece were it not for a tip from a reader; in this case a young stock trader who sent me the following quote, (the quote is so tasty I’ll plug the kid’s videos). Good Will Hunting, which I still haven’t screened, deals with the travails of a super-smart young man who is a janitor at M.I.T.:
The loathing that the college maintenance staff feel for the professors is also well done, and there’s a sharp scene where Will and a Harvard boy spar over Minnie Driver:
“You just paid $150,000 for an education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the library.”
“True, but at the end of it I’ll have a degree and you’ll be serving my kids fries in the drive-thru on the way to our ski vacation.”
(Two decades on, a 150-grand degree is no obstacle to a rewarding career at the drive-thru window.)
Several things jump out from this brief quote. First, a four-year degree from Harvard will now set you back something on the order of $270K in today’s dollars. According the university’s website, the “total 2018-2019 cost of attending Harvard College without financial aid is $46,340 for tuition and $67,580 for tuition, room, board, and fees combined,” or $270,320 for four years, assuming no inflation.
Second, I don’t know how many late-book return days could be settled in 1998 for $1.50, but I’d be surprised if the inflation in late fees since is anything like the inflation at Harvard. (I refuse to research inflation in library late fees; you can do that.)
Third, apropos of Steyn’s parenthetical joke, even though the economy under President Trump is affording Americans more opportunities, there has been a lot of under-employment in the last twenty years; people with credentials who must settle for jobs that are “beneath them,” i.e. grunt work. During the last two decades one could see a goodly number of adults working as baristas and burger flippers. more
Horse sense is the thing a horse has that keeps it from betting on people!
How do you like those apples? W Hunting asked, after getting the girl’s phone number.
A question I’d like to see asked of several leftist as more of their hidden activities are shoved into the light.
The reality is that thanks to the interwebs knowledge is more available than ever. And I have seen young people take advantage of that, skipping college education for a fast track to a high-paying job, and often in tech. Universities are getting in on it, competing for students with online degrees which also allow the students to proceed at their own pace.
But since there is this overarching assumption that a big college degree is necessary places like Harvard can continue to enjoy their prestige, such as it is.
Also, obligatory: MATT DAMON
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnPWJOJYVKc
:/
I remember paying $1,000 tuition for a night class with 80 people in it.
The school made $80,000 off us.
And we were taught by an assistant.
I do not remember anything else about the class.
Mr. Anth Ropy – I’ve often wondered the same thing!!
Where is all the money going?
Left Wing Resistance.
Whut it is starting to boil down to is that we are paying for our own demise because we care about our kids.
Don’t be duped!
Good luck graduating in four years with all the fluff bs classes they make you take – ie a nursing major has to take “History of Rock n Roll”, and “Patterns of Immigration”.
Excellent Post.
“Two decades on, a 150-grand degree is no obstacle to a rewarding career at the drive-thru window”
Exactly!
It’s a Piece of Paper. They should Burn it like a Draft Card in protest of the BULLSHIT Degrees they have been peddled by the College Industrial Complex.
What it truly exposes is the bottom CORE ROOT.
Professors and Students want the same thing.
MONEY MONEY MONEY
PS: F Damon.
APPle pic
Jimmy Kimmel Honest APPle, Abe
La La Land in Moonlight
My young troops go to Prager U for now…college while unaffordable, can be TOXIC to the young mind.
Plumber, Electritian, HVAC mechanic, carpenter…a TRADE is a GREAT thing too.
MAGA2016
KAG2020
A new name for liberal arts colleges:
“Barista School”…
After numerous surgeries and the realization that I would never hold meaningful employment again, we beat it in our kids heads that if the wanted a college degree they would have to bust there ass to earn it.
The short version is my son graduated from Kent state university with a bachelor of business administration in management at age 19. Total cost from start to finish out of pocket for everything, including books…….under $1,000 out of pocket. Was actually way less, but he is not here to ask. Easy? Nope. Can it be done? Yes, if your smart, motivated, and work your ass off!
Most kids don’t know what the want to do or why. If they don’t know, learn a trade. There is good money to be made in working with your hands. My injury is the only reason I’m not breaking the six figure mark like the guy who is doing my old job now.
If your kid knows what the want, they can achieve it without starting tens of thousands in the hole.