# The Case Against Education by Bryan Caplan

3 Hacker News commenters recommended The Case Against Education by Bryan Caplan and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as well-researched and cited for the claim that college is not mainly for job skills. Critics say its author's agenda could steer the evidence.

## Why people recommend it

- Well researched by its author (1 comments): "It's very well researched, and the author has a long track record of being happy when he moves people even marginally towards his views." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48409949))
- College not needed for most careers (1 comments): "College isn't for skills anyway (for most careers). See Bryan Caplan's Case against Education" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49339385))
- Anticipated the trend years earlier (1 comments): "was prophetic of this phenomenon years ago" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46094153))

## What people warn about

- Author's agenda could steer evidence (1 comments): "All research has some levels of agenda behind it, and it would be very easy to steer anything the author presents" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48411454))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty](https://hackerapproved.com/p/capital-in-the-twenty-first-century.md): 12 recommend
- [Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/why-nations-fail.md): 9 recommend
- [Progress and Poverty by Henry George](https://hackerapproved.com/p/progress-and-poverty.md): 6 recommend
- [Free to Choose by Milton Friedman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/free-to-choose.md): 5 recommend
- [Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/imperialism-the-highest-stage-of-capitalism.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691196451?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780691196459) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Case Against Education by Bryan Caplan", https://hackerapproved.com/p/case-against-education/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).