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Much like the housing bubble, when home buyers took on outsized mortgages they were either lured into or which they knew they could ill afford, all in the service of realizing the American Dream of homeownership, students today are struggling with piles of educational debt assumed in service of a similar goal -- the American Dream of a college education.

According to the College Board, 70 years ago there were 1.5 million students enrolled at American universities. By 2006, that figure had swelled to more than 20 million. Meanwhile, the cost of tuition has grown steadily higher. Over the past 25 years, college tuition and fees have risen three times as fast as individual family income. And over the past decade, tuition has increased at a rate of 5.6 percent per year beyond the rate of general inflation.

Recently, with tuition costs rising and debt levels increasing, the skepticism has reached a boiling point.

Amid this backdrop, a Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist named Peter Thiel has inserted himself in a debate about whether a college bubble exists.

Namely, Thiel believes that a lack of innovation will result in long-term economic stagnation. He also argues that the housing bubble, which inflated the real estate market and sent prices soaring and finally crashing back to Earth, now threatens to dismantle higher education.

“A true bubble is when something is overvalued and intensely believed,” explained Thiel during a recent interview with TechCrunch. “Education may be the only thing people still believe in in the United States. To question education is really dangerous. It is the absolute taboo. It’s like telling the world there’s no Santa Claus.”

Thiel’s slant has infuriated some, and emboldened others. But is he right?