> If a student isn't a highly-motivated learner, and their goal is maximising lifetime net earnings, they shouldn't be going to college
I disagree. I think further education in valuable topics is valuable to people even if they are not motivated. I don't think getting into massive debt for this education is valuable to them. There is nothing inherent about college that requires it to be so expensive and simultaneously useless.
All the defenders of the current system always respond with the tired "college is not about teaching how to do a job, it's about teaching culture, creativity, and critical thinking" bullshit that is not backed by any data. If we go by actual results, college is about getting people into massive debt to fund college administrators.
What college and education should be about is teaching people things that can give them the ability to contribute to themselves and others.
> further education in valuable topics is valuable to people even if they are not motivated
Sure, but that doesn’t need to be college. Many European countries have colleges in name only that actually function as trade schools. An unmotivated learner should go to a cheap 2-year trade school and then start earning.
> college is about getting people into massive debt to fund college administrators
Completely agree. That said, we have standout colleges where the purpose is to educate our next generation of elites. That’s still important.