No. of Recommendations: 2
But as I'm sure you know, college is about more than just the diploma. It exposes you to new ideas, new ways of thinking, hopefully problem-solving, and you get a broad exposure to different fields so you at least have a clue about them (e.g. sociology...not my major, but it revealed things I had never thought of before).
Maybe? I mean, you're primarily just screening for people who managed to perform well at academic tasks (particularly sitting for exams) in their teens - even before their brain is fully developed, for goodness' sakes. Spending four years in college may expose you to some new things. But then again, spending four years doing anything after you graduate high school will expose you to some new things as well. Mostly what we're doing is sorting the population between people who are inclined to do well (or tolerate) academics - lots of reading, doing problem sets and essays - and those who aren't.
For a typical college experience (at a non-selective school within their home state) you're mostly just spending more time in an academic environment that has a lot of similarities (both in "ways of thinking" and "problem-solving") as your high school. If that's something your future job actually requires, then your time in school will have contributed to your capabilities in that job. For many jobs that are currently gated behind degree requirements, though, that's not true.
Honestly, I think this is a big reason why Democrats are having trouble at the edges of the working class. If you want to make the economy better/fairer for people who don't go to college, you want to pursue policies that make the economy better/fairer for people who don't go to college. Not try to get an additional 5% of people to enroll in college. It's one thing to try to identify people who would thrive in college and are unable to get there because of obstacles. But increasing the proportion of college graduates for no reason other than because it's a non-essential screening signal employers are using is something different.
