Posted on 05/02/2012 6:48:31 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Last week, the total amount of debt emanating from student loans in the U.S. reached $1 trillion. With the Great Recession still present in the daily lives of the middle class, salaried jobs for college graduates are tough to come by. Many have had to settle for low-wage positions stocking shelves in retail stores or serving coffee at the local Starbucks. According to the Associate Press, three out of five new graduates are unemployed. The dissatisfaction these bachelor's degree-holders have with the lack of jobs manifested into last fall's Occupy movement. Many "occupiers" naively directed their anger at capitalism and corporate greed as the bills came due for loan payments.
All the while, the institution from which they sought salvation is plotting to tighten the shackles of dependency.
This July, the temporary freeze on interest rates for college loans is set to expire. The rate, currently capped at 3.4%, is expected to jump and cost grads at least an extra $1,000 a year. President Obama, in desperate attempt to reaffirm his "cool" credentials among college students, campaigned on university campuses in a few swing states to rile up the bully pulpit to push Congress toward passing an extension of the rate cap.
How the president's base of student supporters don't realize that their taxes finance Obama's trip to their campuses for political photo-ops says a great deal about their critical thinking skills.
This is to be expected, however, since many economic departments are staffed with neo-Marxists, who often describe themselves as Keynesians. Because of a lack of knowledge on how free markets work to lower costs through competition, many students have come to accept ever-increasing college tuition as an indisputable reality. Going into debt by an average of $26,000 is assumed to be the price to pay for an education.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
The last time I dealt with student loads was 20+ years ago, when I was in school.
Have a friend with a daughter preparing for college. He showed me the present system and documentation.
I was struck - Uncle Sam really is 100% in control. I immediately realized that Student loans will become the next big political plaything. They will cause huge financial problems for all, especially the taxpayer.
Stop subsidizing the student loan program, and you defund academia.
Can't have that.
Public schools aren’t dangerous if they are controlled locally. Student loan programs should not come from the Federal government but from the states, if at all.
Three of five were unemployed or underemployed. Okay, and? What were the degrees held by the unemployed and underemployed? Wonder how many were in the “arts” (BA) and how many were in the sciences (BS)?
Forty plus years ago when I exited College with my degree people with BSs had a wide range of job opportunities. Those of us with BAs didn't.
Have things really changed?
Well, yes they have. There are a lot more worthless BA degrees than there were 40 years ago. After all once you leave the hallowed halls of academia how many careers can be found for people with gender studies, race studies, feminist studies?
If we just changed the EEOC rules so that companies could just look at your SAT reading/math/writing scores and hire kids straight out of high school, that would eliminate much of the need for colleges. People could get the education they really needed on a continuing basis via distance learning.
The typical 18-year old does not understand the value of money, or the burden of debt.
The graduates tend to go into company HR depts, become affirmative action coordinators, and into government depts like EEOC or become Dem legislative staff members. Hence they will be load activists for expanding government, because that creates a need for people like them.
The new generation of corrupt priests of a corrupt system.
kiddies got to pay their indulgences to get into the whole-e Temple of Statists to see the Spendy of Spenders.
“The next time some academics tell you how important diversity is, ask how many Republicans there are in their sociology department.”- Thomas Sowell
also the law changed to make student loans non dischargable in bankruptcy. IOW universities could offer junk degrees with no risk to them.
There is no downside no risk to universities from the ecconomics of the free market.
I think that should be among the first reforms. After 4 years student loans become dischagable. If a degree is so worthless as to prevent a graduate from obtaining work in the field, the university SHOULD be penalized.
The degree most granted by education institutions is a Business degree. It is by far the most prevalent.
But if they were truly teaching the subject properly, those business students would see through the loan and subject sham colleges are using to drain money from young Americans.
Excellent article.
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