I also found the article Candace has commented on to be very revealing.

I know Kevin Carey somewhat, having sparred with him on a couple of occasions at higher-ed events in Washington. We don’t see eye to eye on very much, but he’s an intelligent fellow who writes well on higher-education-policy issues.

I defy anyone to point to anything in his undergrad experience (by his own admission, it didn’t have very much education in it) that was necessary or even slightly important in enabling him to become a highly placed education-policy expert. His current employer probably would not have considered him for employment if he hadn’t had a B.A. to his name, but what did Carey learn at Binghamton that is essential to doing education-policy work? Seemingly, nothing.

And for that matter, what did I learn at Carroll College (now University) that’s essential to my work? With a great deal of assurance, I say, nothing.

Of course, I’m not arguing that Kevin and I would have been better off not going to college. My point is that the common notion that a college education is essential to doing most of the work in the economy is mistaken. The ability of individuals to do work seldom depends on anything they studied in college.