SMBC does it again - riffing (sadly, but truly) on
the reasons to go to College. To be precise, its a rant against
signaling which, according to most economists, is main reasons to go.
Noah Smith thinks differently, believing that human capital is one of the main reasons, viz.
Motivation,
Perspective, and
Networks -
To replace Mom, young adults need to form new relationships. Close friends. Romantic partners, and eventually a spouse (which in turn leads to kids, another motivator). But it is very difficult to form these relationships fast (which you need to do in order to start a career fast) without sacrificing quality; if you're just randomly searching, it takes a long time to find friends and a lover who really click with you, especially if you're a smart person who clicks best with other smart people.
This is where college comes in. College is an intense incubator where smart people meet other smart people. The large number of leisure activities and the close quarters in which people live facilitate the formation of friendships and romantic relationships, while the exclusiveness of college makes sure that the people you're meeting are pre-screened to be the type of people with whom you are most likely to click. In the U.S., the "college experience" includes parties, trips, clubs, athletic events, religious fellowships, communal drug use, study groups, endless late-night conversations, and more esoteric events like the one pictured above. In Japan, it includes "go-kon" (group blind date) parties, "nomikai" (pub nights), and clubs. American college works better, but it's much the same sort of thing.
Second, there is "perspective". This is about learning the set of possibilities for life. Before I went to college, I never knew people who went into the finance industry, or joined tech startups, or worked for the World Bank, or did sound engineering for movies, or taught English in foreign countries. In college I met people who did all of the above, and seeing them taught me a lot about the set of possibilities for human life. Simply knowing one's career choice set is a hugely important part of choosing the right career. And it's surprisingly hard to do. College is a great way to gain career and life perspective; if you go from high school straight to the workforce, you are basically assured of not meeting as diverse a group of high achievers.
Finally, there are the human networks built by college. I won't talk a lot about this, because other people have done so quite a lot, and there are a bunch of scientific papers about it. And it's pretty obvious, just from looking at MBA programs, which cost more than college and are well known to be all about professional networking. (Note: As a commenter points out, this is actually called "social capital".)
Me, I think Noah Smith is right, but SMBC is, definitely, funny :-)
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