Is higher education the next financial bubble? For decades, the American system of higher education has been the envy of the world, but today there are growing concerns about its economic sustainability. At many institutions tuition has risen sharply, often dramatically outpacing inflation, while arguably the return on the investment has fallen. Studies reaching troubling conclusions about how much (or little) students learn have combined with increased concern over requiring undergraduate degrees for jobs requiring no college-level skills.
If higher education is the next financial bubble, what will happen if it bursts?
This lecture, by the nation’s leading expert on the economics of higher education, explored these potential consequences, and what universities can do to promote a sustainable, cost-effective education for those who need it.
Co-Sponsored by the UCCS Department of Political Science and the Program for Preserving a Free and Prosperous Society
About The Speaker
Richard Vedder is Distinguished Professor of Economics at Ohio University, Director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity and an Adjunct Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
Richard K. Vedder is a Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute and Edwin and Ruth Kennedy Distinguished Professor of Economics and Faculty Associate, Contemporary History Institute, Ohio University. Professor Vedder is co-author (with Lowell Gallaway) of The Independent Institute book, Out of Work, the recipient of both the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award and Mencken Award Finalist for Best Book, and the Institute monograph, Can Teachers Own Their Own Schools?
Professor Vedder received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois, and he has been Senior Economist at the U.S. Joint Economic Committee and Visiting Fellow at the Center for the Study of American Business, Washington University, and he has taught at the University of Colorado, Claremont Men’s College, and MARA Institute of Technology. His other books include Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs Too Much, The American Economy in Historical Perspective; Poverty, Income Distribution, the Family and Public Policy (with L. Gallaway); Essays in Nineteenth Century Economic History; Essays in the Economy of the Old Northwest; Economic Impact of Government Spending: A Fifty State Analysis, and Variations in Business and Economic History. His hundreds of articles and reviews have appeared in numerous scholarly journals as well as such publications as the Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, National Review, Washington Times, and Investor’s Business Daily.