RECOGNIZING THE COLLEGE BUBBLE. Market Power.

One of the big problems these days in college is that a degree isn't worth what it used to be. People come out of high school with fewer skills than what people, say, 35-40 years ago had. They get to college woefully unprepared for the rigors of college and colleges have responded by watering down their curricula and putting resources into remedial courses. Add to that all the "studies" courses that students are required to take, and the result is that a college degree worth what a high school degree once was worth. That doesn't take into account the recession's effect on the returns to college.

Recessions tend to reduce applications and enrollments, particularly down the academic food chain, with what few standards remain going away, the better to keep bodies in seats. Never mind that the staff reductions that accompany recessions provide an opportunity to tighten academic standards and match student body size to faculty size.