The Four-Year Degree Was Built for a Different America

A degree once promised economic security — now it's an expensive gamble

I make my living inside higher education.

I teach politics at George Washington University — a private, well-branded, expensive institution planted squarely in the middle of Washington, DC. From our campus windows, students can see the White House, the World Bank, and the State Department. Many of them will go on to work in those buildings. In my world, …