Using debt to finance education seems to be the mistake here. Debt is too low risk to represent what is being bought. I wish for a world where students sell a portion of their future income to investors, so that incentives are aligned. If both parties profit, and both want the student to be employed, it would be a better system.
You completely missed. Technology benefits all of society. And that infrastructure you’re talking about requires Degreed and Licensed Engineers - not a Communications Major.
I understand that from your perspective tech and finance and engineering are "needed" skills. I also do, but I'm less judgemental about what kids study because I strongly believe that diversity is what will help us solve some of the great challenges of humanity, not homogeneity. We need scientists with history or philosophy or art backgrounds. We need psychologists with technology backgrounds, we need to challenge our channeled answers to problems and recognize their complexities from various perspectives before they become new problems. Those licensed engineers build roads, where those roads and bridges go isn't an engineering question; they are also technical, social, political, financial and even perhaps philosophical.
Possibly you are wishing for things to be more simple than is possible. There are two kinds of free markets: One is a market where everyone is free to compete on a level playing field; the other is a market free from government involvement, i.e., government adopts a laissez faire attitude toward business. The first is possible only with government involvement, and requires a rare, perhaps fictional, kind of government that serves only the people and neither corporations nor businesses ; the second quickly deteriorates into Cartels and Monopolies. Which of these two kinds of "Free Markets" are you wishing for?
This question really gets into some esoteric shit. There are answers, but their discussion is probably beyond the scope of ET forums. Perhaps answers to your question are best relegated to articles in the Atlantic Monthly and such...
Any economic, political, social decisions in the global sense of the word have both positive and negative consequences - it was. is. and will be. One should not perceive everything as if there are no halftones or shades. This is what allows for a lot of debate and argument and new and unconventional solutions. I am definitely convinced of that. Because it is impossible to take into account all opinions and all consequences at once, you always have to make certain sacrifices that really matter. We haven't really been there and we haven't made those decisions, so we probably have no idea how difficult it is and how serious it really is.
The colleges have bloated 4-year programs too. We could be finishing in 2 to 3 years if it weren't for worthless general education credits. You also have the choice to find a cheaper in-state school. Not a fancy D-1. Two years of community college where the credits will transfer. It's not like there aren't cheaper options. People just don't want to do it for obvious reasons The smaller schools are plenty affordable, but people would rather rack up debt on something fun and cool and then pawn it off on someone else.