Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
Not long ago, the American dream was to work until 62. But now, folks had best work closer to 70 to assure a reasonable retirement. The cornerstone of the dream was owning a home until retirement, selling it, and living off the proceeds. Unfortunately, home equity has dwindled and is disappearing slowly. The increasing cost of living can also be counted on to foil the dream. So, how do all these deleterious factors affect a family’s ability or desire to invest in a college education for their kids?
What is the bottom line value of a college education? Only 22 percent of graduates got jobs, another 22 percent took menial jobs, and 56 percent just moved home. With annual tuitions of $25,000 up to $75,000, parents will sign up for loans from $100,000 to $300,000. That could take the parent’s remaining lifetimes to pay off. But, the expected lifetime payback on their investment is at least a million dollars over a high school education.
This may well be a clarion call, not for more college experts, but for something called “inperts.” Today, there is definitely a serious shortage of “inperts.” Unlike college experts, “inperts” haven’t been tamed and brainwashed into how everything must be done. An example might be the kid who told his dad how to measure nine inches without a ruler or how to pace off feet or yards without a tape measure.
One serious thing is how hard it is to create large quantities of “inperts,” they just seem to grow individually. I’m sure we all know men or women that refuse to let authority — conventional society — put them into their designated slots. These folks insist on thinking for themselves, and they sometimes even turn out to be upstanding folks who some people would call leaders, and eventually go back to school on their own schedules.
Major Joe Welsh
