【文章內容簡介】 ers, theyamp。39。re madeprisoners of addiction and envy.amp。quot。 Just as consumers can be sold and resoldupgraded versions of an iPhone, so also people can be sold more and moreeducation. College is the new high school, we already say that. But why stopthere? People can be upsold on certifications and recertifications, masteramp。39。sdegrees, doctoral degrees.
　　第三，學位是一種品牌。許多年前我的老師寫到 “。當學生被當成消費者，上癮和嫉妒就會應運而生。商家可以不斷將最新款的iPhone賣給消費者，學校也可以向人們兜售教育。大學是新的高中。我們早已深知這點。但是我們就此停止嗎?人們想考取證書、認證新的證書取得碩士、甚至博士學位。
　　Higher education is also marketed as astatus object. Buy a degree, much like you do a Lexus of a Louis Vuitton bag,to distinguish yourself from others. So you can be the object of envy ofothers. Diplomas are a brand.
　　高等教育是一種地位象征。購買一個學位，與買一輛雷克薩斯轎車或一個路易威登包一樣，都能彰顯你的與眾不同。這樣你就可以成為別人羨慕妒忌的對象。文憑是一種品牌。
　　But these truths are often times hidden bya very noisy sales pitch. There is not a day that goes by without some policyguy on television telling us, amp。quot。A college degree is absolutely essential toget on that up escalator to a middleclass life.amp。quot。 And the usual evidenceoffered is the college premium: a college grad who makes on average 56 percentmore than a high school grad.
　　然而這些真相通常都被嘈雜的商業(yè)宣傳所掩蓋。每一天都有一些講政策的人 在電視上說：”。擁有大學學位是過上中產階級的生活的必需品”。 通常此言論的證據是大學溢價：大學畢業(yè)生的收入平均 比高中畢業(yè)生的收入高出56%
　　Letamp。39。s look at that number more carefully,because on the face of it, it seems to belie the stories we all hear aboutcollege grads working as baristas and cashiers. Of 100 people who enroll in anyform of postsecondary education, 45 do not plete it in a timely fashion,for a number of reasons, including financial. Of the 55 that do graduate, twowill remain unemployed, and another 18 are underemployed. So, college gradsearn more than high school grads, but does it pay for the exorbitant tuitionand the lost wages while at college?
　　讓我們更仔細地看一下統計數據。因為這和我們平時聽到的版本不太一樣 我們通常聽到的是大學畢業(yè)生 在咖啡店打工或是做收銀員 每一百名受過中學后教育的人中，有45名學生未能及時畢業(yè)，原因各一，也包括經濟因素 而在55位順利畢業(yè)的人當中，2位將找不到工作、 18位的才華得不到充分施展。大學畢業(yè)生的確比高中畢業(yè)生掙得更多，但這真的能支付高昂的學費、抵消大學時期本可用來工作的收入嗎?
　　Now even economists admit going to collegepays off for only those who plete it. But thatamp。39。s only because high schoolwages have been cut to the bone, for decades now. For decades, workers with ahigh school degree have been denied a fair share of what they have had they received as they sh