Posted on 05/11/2017 7:13:15 AM PDT by all the best
Student loan lenders are skimming tens of billions in profits guaranteed by the taxpayers. "Legal" rackets have two essential components: a public-relations "cover" that obscures the racket and the mechanism that extracts the wealth from the "marks." The Higher Education Racket qualifies on both counts: 1. The PR cover is "you all need a college diploma, and we're here to make that happen." Yea for more education! 2. The extraction mechanism is student loans. Here's a chart that shows what happened relatively recently: your federal government began guaranteeing obscene profits to student-loan lenders and debt-serfdom for tens of millions of "marks" i.e. students.
(Excerpt) Read more at oftwominds.com ...
I thought this article was going to be about the universities themselves being rackets and the administrators and professors enriching themselves. But its about student loans. The whole system needs to be reviewed and fixed. I bet pulling federal money out would be a good start, but unfortunately, that won’t happen.
Unfortunately, higher education has gone from a means to earn a living to a 4, 5, 6, 7 year very extravagant vacation. Only rich folks can afford to send their kids to college to get a worthless degree. The rest of us have to wake up and pay the bills after the party is over.
To add, jobs that might offer a decent wage such as in manufacturing, are gone either because of modernization or from competition over seas.
So, what is a person to do... but to go to college and get a degree in Gender Studies or Art.
I know of someone who has 3 little kids, works part-time minimum wage, gets food stamps for all, has a boyfriend who is father of the kids who is a shadow figure, self employed living with them who also gets his own benefits. They all have free medical and now the girl is going to a community college and getting student loans for tuition and living expenses. There is massive fraud going on in CA.
1. Guaranteed federal loans for college students’ tuition.
2. Students borrow money for tuition.
3. University raises tuition.
4. Student borrows MORE money.
5. University raises tuition.
6. Student borrows MORE money...................
Repeat as necessary................
When the hell is Betsy DeVos going to get off her butt and do something?
She may go down in history as President Trumps biggest mistake.
This is nothing new.
yeah
she’s been there 3 whole months!
(sarc)
The most important thing to do is research the job market before you go to school and then make a rational decision on your major. When the oilfield went to hell in 1983 I went back to school again and became a pharmacist.
There are many that are not suitable for university work. They should become tradesmen. My plumber makes more money than my pay as a pharmacist.
To add, jobs that might offer a decent wage such as in manufacturing, are gone either because of modernization or from competition over seas.
So, what is a person to do... but to go to college and get a degree in Gender Studies or Art.
Add to the racket that if you serve in the military you get a free 4 year degree paid for by the government. When I was in I got a grand total of $5K. My son will get 20 times that.
Plus, useless idiots get tenured positions with 6 figure salaries and gold-plated health and retirement benefits. Then these dirtbags fire up the students to demonstrate against the “high cost of education.”
If these students had half a brain, they’d rebel against the greedy leaches of professors.
your federal government began guaranteeing obscene profits to student-loan lenders and debt-serfdom for tens of millions of “marks” i.e. students.
Every aspect of our society is infected, it began with Welfare in 1964, the hemorrhaging of Money was immediate so they quickly passed the Coinage Act of 1965, Allowing them to immediately began debasing the Public Currency, and then the final straw on August 15 1971 when Nixon declared the US was Bankrupt and closed the Gold Window.
You hit the nail on the head.
There are two big pigs slopping at that trough - The universities and staff and the loan industry.
The main thing that keeps the scam going is government money.
First is money that goes directly to the universities through various programs. Secondly are the student loan guarantees.
This is just another government/business scam to transfer wealth from taxpayers to insiders with powerful lobbies (universities) and to government favored interest/victim groups (students).
Government money has corrupted the "education" business the same way it has corrupted the medical care industry.
Exactly. Well said on all counts!
Exactly.
Two issues:
1.They were lied to — they were told that their Gender Studies degree would get them a high paying job or at least a decent income.
2. And for all of their smarts, they were too stupid to realize that they were being lied to.
My wife and I have put two kids through college already, with a third child set to graduate from college next year with an engineering degree. We used ZERO student loans. The last child will owe a small amount on an interest free loan, but that’s all. We paid for all tuitions, fees, books, room and board ourselves. We have friends who have children with $75,000 in debt. Each. Unbelievable.
All true. That is why many universities are able to hire ridiculous people for ridiculous positions paying ridiculous salaries. $300,000 in salary “Diversity Inclusion Directors.”
1.They were lied to — they were told that their Gender Studies degree would get them a high paying job or at least a decent income.
2. And for all of their smarts, they were too stupid to realize that they were being lied to.
I am excepting my engineering and physical science professors who were great, non ideological and taught me enough to start a career as an engineer. I owe them much!
But if he decides on going to Community College or apprenticing somewhere to learn a trade, I'll not be disappointed. Unless he goes to college to learn to a job - engineering, nursing, education, etc - it's a waste of time and money. The country doesn't need another BA in Post-Modern American History Studies.
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