The Case Against Education

"Few would disagree that our education system needs reform. While most call for more--more government subsidies, more time in school, more students attending college--Caplan provocatively argues for less. The Case against Education urges a radical rethinking about why we‘ve been unsuccessful to date--and why more of the same won‘t work." --Vicki Alger, Independent Institute "Bryan Caplan has written what is sure to be one of the most intriguing and provocative books on education published this year. His boldly contrarian conclusion--that much schooling and public support for education is astonishingly wasteful, if not counterproductive--is compelling enough that it should be cause for serious reflection on the part of parents, students, educators, advocates, and policymakers." --Frederick Hess, American Enterprise Institute "You doubtless asked many times in school, ‘When am I going to use this?‘ Bryan Caplan asks the same question, about everything taught prekindergarten through graduate school, and has a disturbing answer: almost never. Indeed, we‘d be better off with a lot less education. It‘s heresy that must be heard." --Neal McCluskey, Cato Institute "The Case against Education is a riveting book. Bryan Caplan, the foremost whistle-blower in the academy, argues persuasively that learning about completely arbitrary subjects is attractive to employers because it signals students‘ intelligence, work ethic, desire to please, and conformity--even when such learning conveys no cognitive advantage or increase in human capital." --Stephen J. Ceci, Cornell University "This book is hugely important. The Case against Education is the work of an idiosyncratic genius." --Lant Pritchett, author of The Rebirth of Education: Schooling Ain‘t Learning "Caplan deals provocatively and even courageously with an important topic. Readers will be disturbed by his conclusions, maybe even angry. But I doubt they will ignore them." --Richard Vedder, author of Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs Too Much