President Barack Obama has stated that we should expect “all children to graduate college,” and his stand is certainly a popular one. A four-year degree is not only considered to be an important indication of social status, but the only path to professional success.

At first glance, the statistics appear to favor the latter assumption. A 2007 study by Collegeboard.com found a $19,400 gap in annual income between holders of a bachelor’s degree and those who never attended college. Shouldn’t such a long-run advantage make college worth it for everyone?

Not exactly. While it’s true that the collective average earnings of four-year degree holders greatly exceeds that of non-attendees, this statistic is inflated by a small percentage of wealthy professionals. At the individual level, the decision is much more complicated. Many already-enrolled students concede their education may not have been worth the cost of time and money. According to an ABC News story by John Stossel, 40 percent of students wouldn’t have gone to their college if given the choice again.

Perhaps the root of this problem of collegiate buyers’ remorse, can be traced to flawed college admissions standards. To learn about this process, I interviewed Creighton’s Interim Admissions Director Joe Bezousek. Though he cited Creighton’s “best in the country” student guidance program as the reason for its notably high graduation rate, he said that Creighton only admits academically proven students they think “will be successful.”

Bezousek’s standard is an admirable one, but as a whole, American academia is not living up to it. As Stossel’s piece reported, college students who ranked in the bottom 40 percent of their high schools probably won’t even graduate, yet they are still actively recruited by universities. Considering the cost of college in both time and effort, surely this is a grave injustice.

But if so many prospective students are being pressured to make a decision they end up regretting, why is this issue rarely raised? This selective ignorance stems from a fear of interpersonal differences. This fear, however, is hardly a rational one. Though some individuals deem the labor of those who don’t have college diplomas as somehow unimportant, this subjective opinion is contrasted by the objective judgment of the free market. The market rewards repairmen, plumbers and construction workers whose jobs do not require a bachelor’s degree for the hands-on intelligence and disciplines of their trade.

We should have a society where individuals follow their unique talents and inclinations unimpeded. In many cases, this will not mean conforming to the four year model. The key to accepting this fact is to respect the differences that exist amongst us, and understanding that difference does not mean superiority. All laborers have a place in the market economy.

The notion that most citizens need to go to college is not only impractical, but socially destructive. Instead of seeking to make higher education “universal,” colleges should raise their admissions standards. In addition to reducing the 40 percent who feel they’ve been victimized by the system, this would create a more tolerant and productive society.