Is Higher Education Worth What It Costs?

The cost of college is rising at two or three times the rate of inflation and student loans are creating decades of debt. When the high-paying jobs promised graduates often aren't there, how long can this keep going on? Is the traditional "liberal arts education" obsolete in a changing economy or is the focus on critical thinking a pathway to economic opportunity? What about the "academic arms race" to raise faculty salaries, finance football teams and provide living quarters that compare to expensive hotels?