Higher education now sells back what American society once provided for free. The process Kurtz outlines can also be applied to higher education. My basic thesis is that the college degree became a replacement purchase because the American labor market itself once functioned as a common good that has since eroded. The Degree Replaces the CommonsThe standard debate about higher education asks whether college is “worth it,” and the standard answer points to the wage premium. A working-class kid in 1965 was legible to the labor market at essentially no cost to anyone.