Posted on 09/05/2010 9:34:09 PM PDT by Kaslin
And the federal government recently nationalized the education loan business. If a future student should need to enter into bankruptcy, the government loan will follow them until their deaths, not being dischargable in bankruptcy proceedings.
“higher education” should be renamed “higher cost ripoffs”
I agree
Another aspect of the Cloward-Piven strategy.
It's very simple, really. It would eliminate completely the need for "schooling" as we know it.
I managed to get my BS/BA and JD without any debt. But it was NOT easy. And I had a Basketball scholarship for my Freshman year but a knee injury ended that. Blessedly I had a great part time job. That is the problem with most kids. They expect that money is free so they borrow and go tens of thousands into debt and then are slaves to the system from then on. As with most government programs, I remain sure that they do this intentionally.
I sure hope so; before my kids get out of high school. It would be real interesting to know where all the money is going. Just one more example of how government largess breeds corruption and economic distortions that eventually lead to disaster.
I have a crazy way of going through school debt free. It’s called the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Tuition Assistance. I have two associate’s degree, a Bachelor’s degree, and just finished my Master’s Degree. All on military tuition assistance, and I’m less than 30. Haven’t touched any of my GI Bill money, which I plan to use for a Doctorate.
Rabelais, GARGANTUAL AND PANTAGRUEL, Book 1, Chapter XXI, The study of Gargantua, according to the discipline of his schoolmasters the Sophisters. Circa 1532.
Was he the inspiration for Mr Creosote?
I think that anyone getting a degree in political science or “interdisciplinary studies” had better plan on marrying someone with an engineering degree, and MBA, and so on. And, there aren’t enough of those to go around. Looking at in a purely cost-benefit light, probably 70% of degrees aren’t worth getting now. I can’t believe how expensive college is.
What the heck are the schools doing with the money?
I hate to write this, but it is fact that “fluff” degrees at one time existed primarily for:
1. “co-ed’s” (see above, and they would not need to work after they got married);
2. Students who were not too bright but they were going to get into their dad’s business anyway.
3. Athletic scholars.
None of the above actually thought for a moment that they were going to step out of school into a selection of high-paying jobs in their fields of study (unlike now, apparently). The one that really kills me is how much (really expensive) education it takes to land a 30K/year position as a social worker. I think the break-even point on that degree extends past the Sun’s red giant phase.
A college professor should be strong supporter of higher education. I cannot in good conscience support a failed system. Higher education in its present form is unsustainable with rising costs and shrinking value. I strongly believe in post secondary education and training but the current model of higher education is a failure. The education bureaucracy is in full attack mode to defend the status quo.
Here is a glaring example of the deception in higher education. My business school is moving to a renovated building in a year or so. The administration put a banner on the building with a photo of a recent MBA graduate. She works as a graduate school counselor with the business school however. Her position is not promoted as a career path for MBA graduates. I am not criticizing her work or position choice. I am criticizing the deception of the business school.
The biggest obstacle to a revised model of higher education is the public’s expectation. The public wants a traditional higher education experience although the public is now alarmed at the costs and difficult employment prospects. The public does not see an alternative. Breaking the public’s expectation of higher education requires large marketing investments as well as a good alternative higher education package. I think it is much easier to develop an alternative education package than change the public’s perception.
I agree. Back in 1981, when my daughter was ten, I began setting aside tuition money for her to attend Duke. I had it in an account with a good rate of return. But by the time she graduated from high school, what she had in the account was far less than she needed tuition, not to speak of greatly increased living expenses. So she ended up going elsewhere. I think it was that beginning more than ten years before, college presidents began counting on federal money in the form of federally backed loans. They planned ahead , seeing another event like that after WWII when the GI Bill pumped so much money into the colleges and schools. Where federal money fell short, they just hiked the tuition rates and began adding “fees” on everything under the sun. Textbook publishers also got in on the action, and their prices went way up.
Depending on the subject, it is possible to go to graduate school, and get a stipend as well, without incurring any debt. I got a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which was paid from various private fellowships and federal and state grants. I did incur a bit of debt during undergraduate school, but I paid it off fairly quickly once I got a job after graduating with the PhD.
For graduate students, there are typically a number of "assistantships" available through the school, making the student a university employee.
“The simple way to destroy the education racket is through developing effective testing, thus robbing them of control of the credentialing process.”
I absolutely agree that universal testing is a great idea to allow credentialing and to allow comparisons between schools.
Sounds like the author of this had no little axe to grind about a certain church, but similar buffoonery seems apt for our august institutions of “higher liberal education” as well.
Very possibly! Never thought of it.
Rabelais honed no axes, but cast thermonuclear weapons right and left with abandon. His book is the most amazing thing ever written, many agree.
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