The Case against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money

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Why we need to stop wasting public funds on education Despite being immensely popular-and immensely lucrative-education is grossly overrated. Now with a new afterword by Bryan Caplan, this explosive book argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skills but to signal the qualities of a good employee. Learn why students hunt for easy As only to forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for average workers, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy. Romantic notions about education being "good for the soul" must yield to careful research and common sense-The Case against Education points the way.

Reviews

"Cogently argued."Megan McArdle, Washington Post
"A wake-up call for all Americans."Ian Lindquist, Weekly Standard
"The Case against Education . . . is a case of Caplan being right."Charles Fain Lehman, Washington Free Beacon
"[Caplan] argues devastatingly . . . that college is, for many of those who go there, a boondoggle."Kyle Smith, National Review

Author Bio

Bryan Caplan is professor of economics at George Mason University. His books include Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think. Twitter @bryan_caplan