Overeducation and Academic Silence!

In the final page of his 2010 report on ever-education in the United States, Richard Vedder makes an interesting observation.

From Wall Street to Wal-Mart : Why College Graduates Are Not Getting Good Jobs, http://www.centerforcollegeaffordability.org/uploads/From_Wall_Street_to_Wal-Mart.pdf

"Lastly, the very existence and worsening of this phenomenon might be viewed as a sign that higher education has failed in one of its most important missions—disseminating facts in order that we can make better decisions and improve our lives. Have not the army of social scientists that reside in our universities not observed this phenomenon before? If so, why have they remained largely silent, excepting a few lonely scholars like Edward Wolff? Are they putting their own self-interest (increased demand for their employment services) ahead of dissemination of the truth and improvements in public policy? A good case can be made that knowledgeable adults (college professors and university administrators) generally know what we are saying in this report is true, but they have been silent about it because making it public would reduce their government subsidies, the demand for their services, etc. Their silence has probably led to bad personal choices for many college students. It saddens us to think that this might be the case."