雅思扩展阅读--经济学人赏析之从高等教育现状看读大学是否还值得

What is not in doubt is that the cost of university per student has risen by almost five times therate of inflation since 1983, and graduate salaries have been flat for much of the past decade.Student debt has grown so large that it stops many young people from buying houses, startingbusinesses or having children. Those who borrowed for a bachelor's degree granted in 2012 owean average of $29,400. The Project on Student Debt, a non-profit, says that 15% of borrowersdefault within three years of entering repayment. At for-profit colleges the rate is 22%. GlennReynolds, a law professor and author of “The Higher Education Bubble”, writes of graduates who“may wind up living in their parents' basements until they are old enough to collect SocialSecurity.”

无可质疑的是自从1983年以来，每个学生读大学的成本相对通胀率已经上升了大约5倍，并且在过去十年多数时间内大学毕业生囊中羞涩。学生贷款增长如此巨大以至于阻碍很多年轻人购房，创业和生养子女。 2012年为获得学士学位而借贷的学生平均负债29400美元。一个非盈利机构“学生贷款工程”说，15%比例的学生在进入还贷程序三年内有违约行为。对于盈利大学，这个比例是22%。一位名为Glenn Reynolds的法律教授，同时也是《高等教育泡沫》一书的作者，把大学毕业生描写为“可能沦落到住进父母的地下室，直到年龄足够大到可以去领社保救济金”。

That is an exaggeration: students enrolling this year who service their debts will see themforgiven after 20 years. But the burden is still heavy for many. It does not help that nearly athird of those who take out such loans eventually drop out of college; they must still repaytheir debts. A third transfer to different schools. Many four-year degrees drag on longer, andso cost more. Overall, the six-year graduation rate for four-year institutions is only 59%.

这有夸大之嫌，今年招收的得到贷款服务的新生可预见在20年后还清贷款。但(还贷)负担对许多人来说依然沉重。这对其中三分之一得到贷款却最终辍学的人不会有帮助;他们依然要偿还债务。另有三分之一的学生转到别的学校。许多四年的学位可能会拖得更久，因此也会耗费更多。总体说来，四年的大学机构六年的毕业率只有59%。

The lousy national job market does not help, either. A report by McKinsey, a consultancy, foundthat 42% of recent graduates are in jobs that require less than a four-year college education.Some 41% of graduates from the nation's top colleges could not find jobs in their chosen field;and half of all graduates said they would choose a different major or school.

糟糕的国内就业市场更是雪上加霜。咨询机构麦肯锡发布的报告显示，42%的最近毕业的学生从事的工作，大学四年的教育并非必须。国家顶尖学府的41%的毕业生不能在选择的领域找到职位，并且一半大学毕业生说他们会选择另外的专业或学校。

Chegg, a company that provides online help to students, collaborated the study. DanRosensweig, its boss, says that only half of graduates feel prepared for a job in their field, andonly 39% of managers feel that students are ready for the workforce. Students often cannotwrite clearly or organise their time sensibly. Four million jobs are unfilled because jobseekerslack the skills employers need.

给大学生提供在线教育帮助的Chegg公司参与了这项研究合作。公司老板Dan Rosensweig说，只有一半的毕业生觉得在专业相关领域的工作做好了准备，只有39%的经理人认为毕业生已经做好了工作准备。毕业生经常不能清晰地写作或合理地安排时间。因为求职者缺乏雇主所需技能，有400万的工作岗位虚席以待。

Grading the graders

给评分者评分

For all their flaws, studies like PayScale's help would-be students (and their parents) make moreinformed choices. As Americans start to realise how much a bad choice can hurt them, theywill demand more transparency. Some colleges are providing it, prodded by the federalgovernment. For example, the University of Texas recently launched a website showing howmuch its graduates earn and owe after five years.

尽管有这么多的缺陷， 像PayScale公司的研究在帮助准毕业生们(及其父母)做出有信息依据的选择。当美国人开始意识到一个错误的决定会造成损害，他们也会要求更多的信息透明度。一些大学在联邦政府敦促下，提供信息透明。例如，德州大学最近开发了一个网页显示其毕业生在五年后的盈亏。

“Opportunity”, said Mr Obama on April 2nd, “means making college more affordable.” In time,transparency and technology will force many colleges to cut costs and raise quality. Onlineeducation will accelerate the trend. In 2012, 6.7m students were taking at least one onlinecourse. Such courses allow students to listen to fine lecturers without having to pay forluxurious dormitories or armies of college bureaucrats. They will not replace traditionalcolleges—face-to-face classes are still valuable—but they will force them to adapt. Those thatoffer poor value for money will have to shape up, or disappear.

奥巴马总统在4月2日所说，“机遇意味着使得大学更容易负担得起”。 透明度和科学技术会使得很多大学及时裁剪开销并提高教学品质。在线教育会加速这个趋势。2012年有670万学生至少参加一项在线课程。这样的课程允许学生听到优秀的讲座，而不用为奢侈公寓和行政人员埋单。在线课程并不会取代传统大学--面对面的课堂教育依然非常有价值--但在线课程会迫使其适应潮流。那些提供较少经济价值的将要开始改进，或者消失。译者：鲁里奥