Is College a Ripoff?

This recent article in the Economist points to an issue that many have known for a long time but few will speak about.  1.  College is not for everybody  2.  Choose carefully what you study and how much you borrow to pay for it  and 3.  Choose carefully where you plan to attend.  Otherwise, you might find that you were better off not going to college at all.  Actually, you might find that you are more than $100K worse-off than someone who opted to skip college, start working, and start investing in modest vehicles like US Treasury Bonds.  From the article

"What is not in doubt is that the cost of university per student has risen by almost five times the rate of inflation since 1983, and graduate salaries have been flat for much of the past decade. Student debt has grown so large that it stops many young people from buying houses, starting businesses or having children. Those who borrowed for a bachelor’s degree granted in 2012 owe an average of $29,400. The Project on Student Debt, a non-profit, says that 15% of borrowers default within three years of entering repayment. At for-profit colleges the rate is 22%. Glenn Reynolds, a law professor and author of “The Higher Education Bubble”, writes of graduates who “may wind up living in their parents’ basements until they are old enough to collect Social Security."

Meanwhile, the Federal Government just keeps giving out student loans (your tax dollars) to anyone and everyone who wants them, regardless of whether or not such students even belong at college .