As with any subsidized industry, higher education over-expanded for years, boosted by the notion that everyone needed a college degree. Now that many people are questioning that, colleges are finding it hard to stay afloat. Is that cause for concern?

In today’s Martin Center article, Walt Gardner says that it’s not.

He writes:

Putting aside the unprecedented fiscal challenges brought about by the overall shrinking population of college-age students, the larger truth is that not everyone is college material. It takes a certain IQ to handle college-level work, despite exaggerated claims about the role that grit plays. It’s generally believed that an IQ of about 115 is necessary. The large number of freshmen who drop out each year serves as evidence that many are academically in over their heads.

That’s true, despite grade inflation and the dumbing down of the curriculum. Many high school grads are so academically weak that they can’t (or don’t want to) handle college work. Gardner observes that it would help greatly if high school officials would stop advising students that they should go to college, when for many of them some sort of trade school is a far better idea.

Read the whole thing.