Federal Funding in US – For higher education, annual total exceeds $150 billion vs $1 billion for a non-college, vocational pathway

Consider two high school seniors — one who exhibits strong academic talent and one who does not… To whom does our education system owe what?

After high school graduation, the first student can access more than $10,000 annually in public funds to support his college experience. Federal funding for higher education has grown by 133 percent in the past 30 years; combined with tax breaks, loan subsidies and state-level funding, the annual total exceeds $150 billion. That funding will cover not only genuine instructional costs, but also state-of-the-art gyms, psychiatric and career counseling services, and whatever social programming the student-life bureaucracy can conceive. At Ohio State, students living off campus get free fire alarms.

The second graduate likely gets nothing. Annual federal funding for a non-college, vocational pathway, at both the high school and postsecondary levels, totals $1 billion. Certainly, he will need to buy his own fire alarm.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  Opinion | The Misguided Priorities of Our Educational System – The New York Times