The clarion call for STEM: state legislatures and politicians — from both parties — stress education in the sciences, rather than in the humanities and arts: taxpayers should subsidize, the argument goes, those courses of study most likely to produce better taxpayers.

“When it comes to dividing the pot of money devoted to higher education, at least 15 states offer some type of bonus or premium for certain high-demand degrees, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.”

And the federal government seeks to rank colleges according to job placement and earnings after graduation.