Is College Worth the Cost? 60 Minutes Takes on Thiel’s ‘20 Under 20′ Scholarships
Billionaire Peter Thiel’s controversial 20 Under 20 Fellowship,
which pays young college students to drop out of school in
exchange for a $100,000 that they are supposed to use to further
their dreams and careers, got the “60
Minutes” treatment.
Entrepreneur and Prof. Vivek Wadhwa, who teaches at Duke and
Stanford, told Morley Safer that Thiel’s initiative sends the
“absolutely dead wrong” message that dropping out of school is
acceptable, or that college isn’t a worthwhile endeavor.
But Thiel counters that a plumber can have the same earning
capacity as a doctor, and that other vocational careers can be
just as rewarding.
The reality is more complicated, since not everyone who wants to
be a doctor also wants to be a plumber. And the idea of people
becoming doctors simply for the paycheck is also shortsighted.
But Thiel’s underlying premise is one that’s certainly being
debated in higher education circles, as well as among
policymakers who are being asked to improve access and reduce
costs for more students.
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