From here: Public vs Private Colleges: What Is the Difference? The principle fact of the matter is that at the post-secondary level the educational-capacity of a public-school is as good as a private-school. Private schools may indeed have public-recognition of being better. Who wouldn't like to tell the world that their degree is from Hah-vahd? But the fact of the matter remains this: *A post-secondary education has become the principle means to assure one's employment at a decently good salary. (Largely due to the fact that lower-end Manufacturing jobs have since the 1990s gone to China and Central America.) *A nation that prefers to spend billions of dollars "protecting the nation" when there is no war rather than provide a public-option nearly-free post-secondary education will never reduce the far too large percentage of the population that remain at the lower-income level. As shown here:
You seem to be combining two different issues together in your opening post that are not very much related. What does public/private school differences have to do with your second argument about college education being almost essential for individual employment prospects?
Hmm, but isn't there also the problem of not enough upper level jobs available for all those college graduates? You know, the so-called "Education Bubble".
Depends on the nation. In my country public schools, public universities, and public hospitals are superior to the private variants.
. Close relatives of mine have had enough... from now on they are going to home school their children. .
UNCLE SAM'S SORRY ASS (Part 1) No, I don't think so - but I could be wrong. What I see, and have repeatedly mention in this forum, is that a profound economic change has been upon Advance Economies (principally the US and the EU) in terms of the quality of work. Meaning quite simply that low-quality manufacturing jobs have long-ago run off to China and Central America. In the job spectrum from Manufacturing Plus Services, what is a country to do when the latter provide more than 80% of the jobs. And given, the work is greatly more complex than just "stamping out a product, packaging and shipping it". It generally require a far higher level of education. What does that mean: *In the first instance, we must prepare our children to seek a formation in post-secondary schooling - typically at the university level, And *For others, the simple formation into a trade - like cooking or construction, etc., etc. In either of the above conditions, to my mind, it is up to the state to assure that adequate response to the educational need. That costs a lot of money, so it must be also funded by a national government. Meaning, or course, for the US an "Uncle Sam". Which means Uncle Sam should get off his SorryAss and establish the sort of national-structure of state-schools that will offer post-secondary education of all kinds - from trades to professional levels ...
UNCLE SAM'S SORRY ASS (Part 2) And the reason why the above is not happening is the tight relationship between the Nation's Budget and the DoD! Companies that benefit most from the DoD-budget are likely to be the ones that also contribute most to the election of the PotUS (who manages the DoD-budget). Which is why Uncle Sam MUST GET INDUSTRY-MONEY OUT OF VOTING IN OUR DEMOCRACY. It is a great shame that political options should be so easily manipulated by "advertising" in the US. But, such is the sad case-at-hand presently. In Europe, many nations have moved to forbid industries from assisting financially the election of a candidate to Head of state. I have been told by some observers that that particular movement came from witnessing how the American PotUS was getting elected ...
THE LONGGGG READ Excuse me but it seems that that argument is self-evident. Especially if you are sitting in Europe, where the majority of post-secondary schooling is performed by much less expensive state-owned and run universities or skills-learning institutions. (And the schooling cost is ridiculously low compared to the US). The real educational-debt solution for America from the Center for American Progress here: Addressing the $1.5 Trillion in Federal Student Loan Debt Excerpt: I remain convinced that the sole solution must involve reducing the DoD-budget and using the money to fund post-secondary education in the US for all and sundry ...
If the US dramatically reduced its defense budget, it's likely that certain other countries in the world - particularly in Europe - would have to be pay more. It would be interesting to see what would happen. Those countries might no longer be able to afford some of the free stuff they provide to their citizens.
We agree that manufacturing jobs have gone off to China and certain other countries. When you say that "profound economic change" has happened, you seem to be implying that those former manufacturing jobs have turned into skilled professional jobs that require education. Is that what you were trying to say? Here's something to consider: What if the "profound economic change" only consisted of the disappearance of those manufacturing jobs and nothing else in the economy really changed besides that. I mean, those manufacturing jobs were not really "replaced" by jobs that require education; rather they simply just disappeared. See the difference?
Yes, high-tech manufacturing today requires the assembly of highly sophisticated components. These are the jobs that remain in the US because no company can take the risk that sophisticated components will be well-made elsewhere. There are some American-based companies that have started hi-tech manufacturing in Mexico, and that will continue to grow. Europe has the same problem. For instance, all least-expensive cars/trucks are now made in western North Africa and imported into the EU* ... *I think they may be free of any import-duty.
There is no longer any real necessity for Russia to attack the EU. It is selling one helluva lot there! The EU defense-budget is minimal and like to remain that way. Russia's post-war mentalities of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s began to change in the 1980s. Today there are Russian tourists all around Europe ...
