Tutor：上大學的價值有沒有被高估？

上大学的价值有没有被高估？That more people should go to college is usually taken as a given. People with college degrees make a lot more than people without them, and that difference has been growing. But does that mean that we should help more kids go to college--or that we should make it easier for people who didn't go to college to make a living?

應該讓更多人上大學往往被視為理所當然。有大學學位的人比沒有大學學位的人掙錢多得多，而這種差距還在擴大。但這就意味著我們應該幫助更多孩子上大學嗎？或者，我們應該讓未上大學的人更容易謀生嗎？

We may be close to maxing out on the first strategy. Our high college drop-out rate--40% of kids who enroll in college don't get a degree within six years--may be a sign that we're trying to push too many people who aren't suited for college to enroll. It has been estimated that most people in their 20s who had college degrees were not in jobs that required them: another sign that we are pushing kids into college who will not get much out of it but debt.

在第一條策略上我們幾乎盡了全力。我們大學的高輟學率或許表明我們在竭力推動太多不適合上大學的人入學——40%的讀大學的孩子在6年內沒拿到學位。據估計，在擁有大學學位的20多歲的人當中，大多數人並未從事與專業相關的工作。這也表明了我們在把孩子們推進大學，而他們除了債務卻幾無所得。

The benefits of putting more people in college are also oversold. Part of the college wage premium is an illusion.

使更多人讀大學的好處也被過分頌揚了。大學畢業生工資提升有一部分屬於假象。

上大学的价值有没有被高估？People who go to college are, on average, smarter than people who don't. In an economy that increasingly rewards intelligence, you'd expect college grads to pull ahead of the pack even if their diplomas signified nothing but their smarts.

讀大學的人一般比不讀大學的人聰明一些。在一個日益獎賞才智的經濟體制下，你總會期望大學畢業生成為同齡人中的佼佼者，即使他們的文憑除了意味著其聰明外別無其他。

College must make many students more productive workers. But at least some of the apparent value of a college degree, and maybe a lot of it, reflects the fact that employers can use it as a rough measure of job applicants' intelligence and willingness to work hard.

大學必須使許多學生成為更具生產力的工人。然而，在大學學位的表面價值中，至少有一些——甚至更多——能夠反映這樣一個事實：僱主們可以把它作為一個粗略標準，衡量求職者的聰明才智和積極肯幹精神。

We could probably increase the number of high school seniors who are ready to go to college and likely to make it to graduation. But let's face it: college isn't for everyone, especially if it takes the form of four years of going to classes on a campus.

我們可能會增加願意讀大學的高中生人數，他們也很可能成功讀到大學畢業。但我們必須直面一個問題：大學不是為所有人開設的，尤其是以在校園裡上4年課這樣一種形式。

To talk about college this way may sound élitist. It may even sound philistine, since the purpose of a liberal-arts education is to produce well-rounded citizens rather than productive workers.

如此談論大學也許聽上去有點精英主義的味道。它甚至顯得庸俗不堪，因為文科教育的目的是造就全面發展的公民，而不是生產性的工人。

But perhaps it is more foolishly élitist to think that going to school until age 22 is necessary to being well-rounded, or to tell millions of kids that their future depends on performing a task that only a minority of them can actually accomplish.

但是，也許更加愚蠢的經營論調是，認為在學校讀書讀到22歲是全面發展所必需，或者告訴無數孩子，他們的未來取決於完成一項事實上只有少數人才能完成的任務。

上大学的价值有没有被高估？The good news is that there have never been more alternatives to the traditional college. Online learning is more flexible and affordable than the brick-and-mortar model of higher education. Certification tests could be developed so that in many occupations employers could get more useful knowledge about a job applicant than whether he has a degree.

令人欣慰的是，傳統大學之外的選擇現在前所未有之多。網絡教育比傳統的高等教育模式更靈活，更負擔得起。可以發展多種證書考試，這樣在許多行業中，僱主們就能瞭解與求職者有關的更多有用信息，而不只是看他是否有一紙文憑。

Career and technical education could be expanded at a fraction of the cost of college subsidies. Occupational licensure rules could be relaxed to create opportunities for people without formal education.

可以擴大職業與技術教育，而其花費僅相當於大學補貼的一部分。可以放寬職業許可證發放規則，給沒有接受正規教育的人創造機會。

It is absurd that people have to get college degrees to be considered for good jobs in hotel management or accounting--or journalism. It is inefficient, both because it wastes a lot of money and because it locks people who would have done good work out of some jobs.

實屬荒謬的一點是，只有獲得大學學位的人，才能有機會得到酒店管理、財會——抑或新聞行業的好工作。這是一種低效之見，因為它既浪費了大量金錢，也將本能幹好某些工作的人擋在門外。

The tight connection between college degrees and economic success may be a nearly unquestioned part of our social order. Future generations may look back and shudder at the cruelty of it.

大學學位與經濟成功之間的緊密聯繫可能是我們社會秩序中幾乎不受質疑的部分。當後輩人回首時，可能會對它的殘酷性不寒而慄。
（網絡轉載）