"Education doesn't fit cleanly into the category of a commodity because it almost never captures the value of what it produces. Realistically, it can't; much of the market value of improved job skills comes years or decades down the line, and much of the civic value of education doesn't show up directly in dollar terms. For example, people with more education live longer, divorce less often, vote more regularly and commit fewer crimes than people with less education."
"A robust public option puts pressure on for-profit providers to do a better job. Those who can't won't survive. When public options are starved of resources, they are forced to behave more like for-profits, thereby losing their competitive (and ethical) advantage. Rather than ceding the educational field to providers whose incentives are perverse, it's more socially beneficial to provide a solid public option. It costs more up front, but it's a bargain over time."
Many institutions pay student workers less than hourly workers for the same tasks, which signals undervaluing student labor. Public investment in community colleges can draw adult learners away from for-profit institutions. A strong public option pressures for-profits to improve while underfunded public institutions begin to emulate for-profit behavior and lose ethical advantages. Education rarely captures the full market or civic value it produces, since much benefit accrues years later and to society broadly, so colleges often remain underfunded. Investing publicly in education costs more initially but produces long-term social and economic benefits. High-achieving job seekers still face difficult labor-market barriers.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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