Higher Ed Book Author: Get a Liberal Arts Education, Consider Law School

The co-author of a new book on higher education says undergrads should skip the vocational classes and consider going on to law school.

The book maintains that it’s a waste of money to spend $250,000 on a bachelor’s degree from top universities such as Harvard and Yale, Reuters reports. Co-authors Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus say the cost of an undergraduate degree has doubled in real dollars in the span of one generation, but the education is not twice as good.

"All undergraduate education should be a liberal arts education where you think about the enduring ideas and issues of the human condition," Hacker told Reuters. "After that, go on to law school or study dentistry—you have plenty of time."

Hacker, who teaches at Queens College in New York, calls undergraduate business classes “just a charade” in which “19-year-olds play as if they are chief executives of General Electric.” He also targets as unnecessary vocational classes in ornamental horticulture, poultry science and ceramic engineering.

Reuters summarizes some of the book's undergrad recommendations, including:

• Arizona State University, for its vibrancy.

• Kentucky's Berea College, for its free tuition and 10-1 student-faculty ratio.

• Notre Dame, for promoting concern for the common good .

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for its good treatment of part-time teaching staff.

The book is Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money And Failing Our Kids—And What We Can Do About It.