All Else Equal: Making Better Decisions Ep64 "Why Higher Education Needs a Massive Overhaul: Are the Kids Even Learning Anything?" with Bryan Caplan
Sep 17, 2025
Bryan Caplan, an economist and author of "The Case Against Education," argues that modern higher education mainly serves as a labor-market signal rather than fosters essential job skills. He discusses how most college curricula lack real-world relevance and critiques the emphasis on liberal arts, which caters to a select few. Caplan suggests shifting focus to apprenticeships and on-the-job training as more effective learning methods. The conversation also explores the 'sheepskin effect' and how critical thinking may often stem from selection rather than education itself.
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Signaling Explains High Returns
- Most returns to higher education come from signaling rather than skill-building.
- Employers value costly hoops as proof of ability, not the specific content taught.
Subsidies Inflate Credential Arms Races
- If education is mostly signaling, subsidies amplify waste by fueling credential arms races.
- More subsidized schooling raises required hoop-jumping without improving societal skills.
Classroom Skills Rarely Apply On Job
- Empirical evidence shows students rarely use college-taught skills at work.
- That gap challenges the human-capital explanation for most degrees' labor-market value.
