When Canvas crashed last week, millions of students suddenly couldn’t submit assignments, check grades, or prepare for exams. Some panicked, others celebrated. Together, they offered a perfect lesson in the economics of education. This outage revealed what students think they’re really paying for when they go to college: a mix of skills, signals, and experiences that don’t always line up the way we expect.
Thanks for linking the Pew survey results on the worth of a college degree. Why do you think the share of Americans who think a college degree is not important to get a well-paying job is growing as the wage gap between those with/without a college degree continues to grow?
It can take years to "pay off" the cost of the degree. Even if you don't take out loans, you're delaying the earnings by 4 years. It's likely just a misunderstanding of college as an investment.
You’re underestimating the signaling percentage, those students frustrated by the outage are still almost entirely worried about their ranking, not the lost human capital
I have to say i agree with Tyler Cowen. My masters degrees were the best thing i ever invested in. Especially my MBA. It tied everything together and made it easier to navigate my entire enterprise while better understanding the operating procedures and metrics. However, i believe that many students treat it like signaling. Which is why there are many employers that are saying recent grads dont know enough. I tell my students all the time if you learn society wins if you cheat you're only cheating yourself.
Realistically, it's some mix of the two. I like to tell my students that the degree will get them the job (signaling), but that the things they learn will help them keep their job (human capital)
I can see that. I still feel part that many jobs out there that require a degree not necessarily need one but I also feel it is too late and as a society we'd never stop using degrees as a signal. I agree it is a mixture. The best student that didn't a degree because of life circumstances sends different signals than a terrible one that did.
Your first observation is really more of a sorting problem. It's gotten a lot easier for people to apply for jobs, so companies look for an easy way to sort "good workers" out of the mix. Requiring a degree, even when it's not needed for the job, is a cheap way for companies to cut down on searching for applicants.
The only way that goes away is if it somehow gets harder to apply for jobs.
Thanks for linking the Pew survey results on the worth of a college degree. Why do you think the share of Americans who think a college degree is not important to get a well-paying job is growing as the wage gap between those with/without a college degree continues to grow?
It can take years to "pay off" the cost of the degree. Even if you don't take out loans, you're delaying the earnings by 4 years. It's likely just a misunderstanding of college as an investment.
You’re underestimating the signaling percentage, those students frustrated by the outage are still almost entirely worried about their ranking, not the lost human capital
You're probably right.
"college didn’t stop when the servers did. It just revealed what they were really paying for"
It also revealed for many students the difference between academics being something they *want* to do vs something they *have* to do.
I dream of a world where all the students enrolled in my class are doing work because they want to. Those students are fun to talk to.
I have to say i agree with Tyler Cowen. My masters degrees were the best thing i ever invested in. Especially my MBA. It tied everything together and made it easier to navigate my entire enterprise while better understanding the operating procedures and metrics. However, i believe that many students treat it like signaling. Which is why there are many employers that are saying recent grads dont know enough. I tell my students all the time if you learn society wins if you cheat you're only cheating yourself.
Realistically, it's some mix of the two. I like to tell my students that the degree will get them the job (signaling), but that the things they learn will help them keep their job (human capital)
I can see that. I still feel part that many jobs out there that require a degree not necessarily need one but I also feel it is too late and as a society we'd never stop using degrees as a signal. I agree it is a mixture. The best student that didn't a degree because of life circumstances sends different signals than a terrible one that did.
Your first observation is really more of a sorting problem. It's gotten a lot easier for people to apply for jobs, so companies look for an easy way to sort "good workers" out of the mix. Requiring a degree, even when it's not needed for the job, is a cheap way for companies to cut down on searching for applicants.
The only way that goes away is if it somehow gets harder to apply for jobs.
You're definitely right!