Conversations with Peter Boghossian Is College A Conformity Test? | Bryan Caplan
May 5, 2026
Bryan Caplan, economist and author of The Case Against Education, critiques higher education as credential signaling and ideological capture. He discusses vocational alternatives, tenure and conformity in academia, using bets and prediction markets, strategies for honest one-on-one conversations, and the role of AI tutors and pedagogical techniques.
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College Largely Works As A Signaling System
- Bryan Caplan argues roughly 80% of the college wage premium is signaling rather than skill acquisition.
- He estimates only about 20% is human-capital, so many degrees mainly certify credential-worthiness rather than teach valuable skills.
Tenure Protects Dissent Even If Faculty Self‑Select
- Bryan Caplan defends tenure as a protective mechanism that enables dissident professors to speak freely, despite selection effects producing compliant academics.
- He distinguishes selection (people who get tenure often self-select as conformist) from the legal shield tenure provides.
Dean Forced Me To Give All Students As
- Peter recounts being summoned by a dean over failing students and capitulating by changing all grades to A to avoid losing his job.
- The dean told him "there are no bad students there are only bad teachers," forcing an immediate grade reversal.
