On his first day in office in January, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro declared that most state jobs would not require a college degree. And in his State of the Union address this month, President Joe Biden put forth a “blue-collar blueprint to repair America” that emphasized well-paid jobs for working-class people. “Let’s offer every American the path to a good career whether they go to college or not,” Biden urged.
They’re right: You shouldn’t have to attend college to acquire decent-paying employment. So why have college at all?
To prepare citizens, of course. Our colleges and universities were founded to ready people for the tasks of collective self-government: reason, deliberation and tolerance. If you haven’t noticed, those skills are in short supply right now. We’re more likely to shout and cancel than to talk and listen.
