Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Higher education creates poverty
Marshall University Parthenon ^ | 11/9/2005 | MICHAEL HUPP

Posted on 11/09/2005 10:43:17 AM PST by texassizednightcrawler

Higher education is slowly becoming a catalyst for a class system in America and Congress is fueling the problem.

Congress is proposing to cut financial aid funding to students. Any student whose family is classified under the level of "lower-middle" class is going to have a difficult time finding finances to receive a higher education. I once heard someone say, "The world needs ditch diggers too." Well, that is fine and dandy, but digging ditches barely keeps pay above the poverty level.

The class system is slowly emerging, driven by America's higher education system. Rich kids will get to go to college, while the poor ones will not be able to afford it. The same privileged few running our country will continue to rule. The poor will continue to struggle to live, thanks to less government assistance.

I know, less government assistance raises red flags and allegations of "just live on welfare your whole life," but what does the government expect people to do? They wonder why people pump out five kids to receive more benefits. Granted, there are some citizens who plot and scheme so they do not have to work, but not everyone thinks and operates that way. Some just do not have the resources and the ones they do have are limited.

Which brings me to the point of my column: Is a higher education worth it under America's capitalist system? Think about it. Students are financing their lives away for a degree. Getting a degree does not guarantee a student a job when they graduate. Do you know how many people I know who are waiting tables to pay off their loans because they cannot find a job in their fields? It is not a trend just occurring in West Virginia, but across the country, in cities large and small.

The further I go in my college career, I realize I should have attended a two-year trade school. I could have been making money by now, rather than adding to my debt acquired while in school. Think about it. In a capitalist society, going to trade school is your best bet. No taking classes not related to your major and racking up loans. No getting caught in the "well-rounded" education trap emphasized at four-year institutions. What better way to fade into oblivion and join the "capitalist machine?" At least then, citizens can make some money sooner to survive.

As students, our backs are against the wall. If you do not go to college, you do not make enough money to provide for yourself. Go to trade school, you might luck into a job that pays more than $25,000 a year, but chances are, you will end up working a service job until you die, because there is no such thing as retirement in the service industry. They just do not have credible two-year journalism schools in the "system's" eyes.

I once had a respected, tenured professor tell us in class, "A well rounded education means you can recite poetry at the dinner table." Learn from this proverb. Tell your Congressmen that cutting financial aid is not the answer if they want to save money. Revamp and evaluate the school system itself. If you want qualified workers to fuel capitalism, then make it worth it for a student to go to a two-year institution, not a penalty. Cut out the unnecessary courses provided in four-year colleges and help students save money, while getting the training we need to be productive pawns of American society.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: West Virginia; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: collegecost
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 181-198 next last
To: texassizednightcrawler

It sounds like MICHAEL HUPP has the junior year blues. Hang in there punk, it'll get better.


21 posted on 11/09/2005 10:54:56 AM PST by Ninian Dryhope
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum
Places like Marshall University are still pretty inexpensive if you are a state resident...annual tuition there is under $4,000.

Some people who can't afford to go to college get the financing through military service, but I don't this guy would be able to learn to march. Every time he heard "Hupp" he'd turn, thinking someone had called his name.

22 posted on 11/09/2005 10:55:01 AM PST by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Ninian Dryhope

Part of the problem is WV where this school is located is very hostile to business.


23 posted on 11/09/2005 10:55:33 AM PST by texassizednightcrawler
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: texassizednightcrawler

Many college educations are NOT worth the money spent.....we will only help relatives who 1) want classes in hard sciences or hard business (accounting, computer science) or 2) want to learn a SKILL, i.e. plumbing, auto repair, etc......we will help NOT fund ANY education in psychology, sociology, etc. And, I say this having an undergrad and MBA from a no-name institution.


24 posted on 11/09/2005 10:55:51 AM PST by goodnesswins (DEMS....40 yrs and $$$dollars for the War on Poverty, but NOT a $$ or minute for the WAR on Terror!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ninian Dryhope

Marshall = Randy Moss


25 posted on 11/09/2005 10:56:09 AM PST by nascarnation
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: RockinRight
A: "Would you like fries with that?"

..well thats better than "Happy Trails"...LOL..

Doogle

26 posted on 11/09/2005 10:57:16 AM PST by Doogle (USAF...7thAF ..4077th TFW...408th MMS..Ubon Thailand.."69",,Night Line Delivery..AMMO)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Ninian Dryhope

University of Missouri is a big one. They're raving leftists there, too.


27 posted on 11/09/2005 10:58:06 AM PST by Tax-chick (I'm not being paid enough to worry about all this stuff ... so I don't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: Restorer

agreed.

My husband has a PhD in Engineering. His cousin is an auto machanic, with a HS degree. Last year he pulled in more than us. You don't need a degree to provide for yourself and family.
You do need a good work ethic though.


28 posted on 11/09/2005 10:58:43 AM PST by kiki04 ("If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is a man who has so much as to be out of danger?" - THH)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Missus

The two plumbers I have dealt with have second homes. One has a Porsche and the other guy an Escalade.


29 posted on 11/09/2005 10:59:30 AM PST by Clemenza (In League with the Freemasons, The Bilderbergers, and the Learned Elders of Zion)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: sageb1
Cut out the unnecessary courses provided in four-year colleges and help students save money, while getting the training we need to be productive pawns of American society.

Translation: I can't hack my pre-requisites and other electives, 'cause all I'm really halfway good at is frittering away my time, updating my blog. I should be able to graduate with a degree in "Life Studies," and be able to make six figures.

30 posted on 11/09/2005 10:59:57 AM PST by Lou L
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: texassizednightcrawler

The PROBLEM with the cost of higher education, is precisely that Govt subsidizes it, period! By creating a higher demand than otherwise would be, the costs have soared.

Not to mention that many of the totally unprepared who usually drop out are taking the space from others who are.

And the institutions take Govt's money and build other things for Dept heads etc, instead of the classroom seats the demand creates. I.E. a much larger overhead costs/seat ratio means higher tuitions.

Nuff said!


31 posted on 11/09/2005 11:00:47 AM PST by Marxbites (Mises.org answers to the question)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Missus

More like 125,000 a year.


32 posted on 11/09/2005 11:02:33 AM PST by calrighty (C'mon troops, finish em off!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: kiki04

My husband has a M.S. in Engineering. His sister earns more, with a G.E.D., 4 community college classes and a real estate license. She works her tail off and gets the rewards.


33 posted on 11/09/2005 11:02:37 AM PST by Tax-chick (I'm not being paid enough to worry about all this stuff ... so I don't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: kiki04

My husband has a M.S. in Engineering. His sister earns more, with a G.E.D., 4 community college classes and a real estate license. She works her tail off and gets the rewards.


34 posted on 11/09/2005 11:02:39 AM PST by Tax-chick (I'm not being paid enough to worry about all this stuff ... so I don't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Lou L

The sick thing is that those kids who do come from money and end up getting degrees in stupid majors end up getting the same or better high paying jobs that the rest of us have to work for by getting relevant degrees.

I see it all the time. I have an accounting degree from a modest state college and I am a lowly employee who is under a Controller that is neither a CPA nor has an accounting degree. Alas, he went to Penn State and comes from a comfortable upper middle class background.


35 posted on 11/09/2005 11:02:49 AM PST by jrny (Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto Decimo Sexto.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Ninian Dryhope

"Based on this column, I would say that Marshall University admits idiots and then allows them to write for the student paper."

Just look at their football system. They take all of the rejects from the other schools. Then they screw over the conference that brought them into Div. 1.

(Yes, I am a bitter MAC grad.)

Marshall, the only school that has named their mascot after the line for the cafeteria.


36 posted on 11/09/2005 11:02:51 AM PST by CSM (When laws are written, they apply to ALL...Not just the yucky people you don't like. - HairOfTheDog)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: texassizednightcrawler

I went back to school at a late age, paid for every dime by myself, and worked my a** off to get a degree in Bus. Ad. with a concentration in Accounting simply because I knew I could get a job anywhere with that degree. I was right.


37 posted on 11/09/2005 11:04:02 AM PST by sheana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: All

There are jobs for liberal arts majors. These are jobs that place a high value on communication skills, writing skills, etc. But, kids who major in liberal arts don't want these jobs (like sales and marketing). Their high moral airs won't allow them to do something so capitalistic.


38 posted on 11/09/2005 11:05:07 AM PST by Madeleine Ward
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: texassizednightcrawler
So which is it? Is a higher education not worth the paper it's printed on and people shouldn't bother, or should the government dump more money into making sure everyone gets this "worthless" piece of paper.

The nimrod who wrote this paper needs to figure out what his thesis is before he wastes ink and paper writing again.

39 posted on 11/09/2005 11:05:09 AM PST by flada (They don't have meetings about rainbows.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: texassizednightcrawler

Reading this was like watching a ping-pong game.


40 posted on 11/09/2005 11:07:32 AM PST by Old Professer (Fix the problem, not the blame!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 181-198 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson