The author is completely spot-on that the problem arises with the funding system.  It&#x27;s a classic case of policymakers confusing correlation and causation, and subsequently cause and effect: They have assumed, and continue to assume, that getting a college degree _causes_ higher employability&#x2F;earnings&#x2F;etc., even though the data only indicates _correlation_; consequently they said &quot;more must be better&quot; and tried to push as many people into college as possible in a misguided attempt to cause higher wages.<p>The truth is more along the lines that high employability for abstract (and disproportionately high-paying) professions is highly correlated with academic ability, and it is the latter that accounts for more of the overall success than the degree itself.  In other words, many high-earning people would have some of those higher earnings even if they didn&#x27;t go to college at all.  The fact that many of those people choose to go to college is an _effect_ of that ability, not a cause.