College Value Alert: Many "G.E.D. Jobs" Pay More

Higher education in this country has become a questionable investment. Tuition inflation runs rampant, primarily because the federal government guarantees loans to nearly any aspiring student for nearly any degree program. Financial guru Karl Denninger, a frequent guest of ECOMINOES Radio, once told me that he paid for his college in the '70s by flipping pizzas. You absolutely can't do that today. (Nor could you, as a non-unionized blue collar worker with a stay-at-home wife, send 2 children to college like my grandfather did.)

Not only does college in today's America often yield a negative return on investment; it often carries large opportunity costs. Instead of rolling the dice on higher education, one could get on-the-job training and real life experience working one of the numerous well-paying skilled labor jobs. Many of these jobs don't even require a high school diploma. From Bloomberg:

Granted, there are some unquantifiable benefits of attending college. Higher education can be an enriching life experience. But so can careers that offer on-the-job training and real world experience. 

Seth Mason, Charleston SC