A college education was once regarded as a first-class ticket to a better life.

But the rising costs of higher education, the burden of student loans and a less-certain job market have left many wondering: Are too many young people going to college?

We sat down with a group of education-policy experts—Sandy Baum, senior fellow at George Washington University's Graduate School of Education and Human Development; James O'Neill, co-founder of the Thiel Foundation's 20 Under 20 Thiel Fellowship; Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity; and Vivek Wadhwa, a fellow at Stanford University's Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance—to debate the question.

Necessity or Waste?

WSJ:Dr. Vedder, you've written that we currently have a glut of college graduates. Why do you think college is no longer the valuable investment it once was?