A number of people have asked me what “the education bubble” means. While it’s not actually a true investment bubble since purchasing a college education is not a bona fide investment, the ever-rising cost of a college degree does have frothy and bubblicious aspects that can be seen very clearly in this chart from TaxProfBlog that compares CPI inflation vs the increase in US home prices vs the increase in college tuition.
In combination with the huge increase in students attending college, the value of a college degree is presently around one-third of what it was in 1990. I had previously estimated it was 28% of the value… but in either case, this assumes you are one of the 50% of college attendess who manages to successfully complete a college program and receive a degree within five years.