There's a time for joy

ESOTERICA

Item:

Only 33 percent of the freshmen who enter the University of Massachusetts, Boston, graduate within six years. Less than 41 percent graduate from the University of Montana, and 44 percent from the University of New Mexico. The economist Mark Schneider refers to colleges with such dropout rates as "failure factories," and they are the norm.

The United States does a good job enrolling teenagers in college, but only half of students who enroll end up with a bachelor’s degree. Among rich countries, only Italy is worse. That’s a big reason inequality has soared, and productivity growth has slowed. Economic growth in this decade was on pace to be slower than in any decade since World War II—even before the financial crisis started.

I'm really kind of astounded that the figures are so abysmal. Of course, I'm cognizant only of my own experiences, where those males who didn't stay in college ran the risk of spending the related time in a Southeast Asia jungle.

Now, of course, it's markedly different. There's no comparable incentive to stay in school, and the job market certainly isn't consoling. I hope that these data can change, but it'll take serious societal change for that to occur.

To be sure, college is a nice place to hang out, but it'd be nice if it were used for more profound purposes.