Earlier this month Forbes magazine published a piece about a controversial question that has garnered increasingly more mainstream attention: "Should nearly everyone go to college?" I've mentioned this quandary in other pieces [link to bio pg on huffpo with links to all posts] but haven't addressed the issue head-on until now. Here's a snippet from my latest HuffPo piece:

It's heresy for someone like me to suggest that a liberal arts education isn't always the answer. After all, I was privileged to receive top-notch schooling from Phillips Exeter Academy and Stanford University. Generous financial aid packages granted this mechanic's daughter access to the esteemed institutions that taught me how to read, how to think, how to write. For the record, I firmly believe that everyone who wants to pursue scholarship of this sort should have the opportunity to do so. Period. But the reality is, not everyone does. And classrooms are not the only (or even, necessarily, the best) places to learn.

I, for one, received my most important training for my current position -- chief engineer of a retired 1931 New York City fireboat -- on the job, through a decade-long, hands-on apprenticeship. Before I began working aboard Fireboat John J. Harvey, I used to pressure my younger siblings to go to college: "You want to keep all your options open. It's the only way to get ahead." I had drunk the College Kool-Aid. But soon, my own apprenticeship transformed my thinking about the future facing not just my siblings, but society as a whole.

As always, I welcome your comments. Surely, questions of education will continue to rile and rally a diversity of opinions. I hope you'll share yours.