The rest of the story, however, is a tale of stupidity. This woman spent at least 15 years in academia, acquiring $360,000 in debt (the additional $70,000 is accrued interest), in the hopes that she could get a job in a university.
Really? I don’t care how much she researched it. There are only 1,452 U.S. News-ranked schools in America, with the rest being community colleges, beauty colleges, etc. The latter may offer valuable degrees, but they’re not offering big, Fauci-style bucks to their faculty.
But, in some organizations, they equal money.
Most liberal arts PhD programs at good schools, they pay you to come. It you don’t get tuition remission and a stipend, don’t go!
So, $430,000 in debt= no new car, no house to own, no luxuries BUT she gets to work for a university for her entire life so she can pay them back for the ‘education’ she got from them.
Seems fair. Idiots gonna idiot.
Short answer is “no.”
Long answer is “not on your life.”
A neighbor’s grandson is in his 2nd year of college majoring in English. He’s thinking about teaching at the college level and plans to go for a PhD in English. He’s early enough in the academic cycle to smarten up. Hopefully he will.
Some people are addicted to collecting expensive diplomas. They can’t think rationally about their problem, even though it’s a life long slow motion train wreck. Not only is it vanity, as they think their degrees and titles make them better than others, but they imprecisely assume they will end up more well off because of it.
Unless you have the prospects of a job waiting for you at the end, a PhD is never worth getting for the value of the work that it provides. PhD’s, more often then not, are just vanity degrees.
When she started out, it was probably a good idea. Who knew that the full-time uno jobs would end up going to management bureaucrats instead of professors? Who knew colleges would end up relying on part-timers to teach the paying students?
But even with that, 360k is a lpt to rack up, even in the best of circumstances!
A very expensive ego trip.
Meanwhile, there are some long haul truck drivers making 100K/yr.
Due to the nature of my position, I am often encouraged to pursue my Ph.D. I got my master’s with a combination of program grants, employer tuition benefits and weekend overnight babysitting/house sitting while working full time.
The ROI on a Ph.D. stopped being worth it when I was 35 even if I had the above financial help.
Here’s a tip. If you’re paying tuition to get a PhD, the PhD ain’t worth jack.
Humanities and social sciences advanced degrees have reached the point of pure financial transaction.
The school and its bloated administration NEED the money. You borrow the money, pay them, and they give you a useless piece of paper.
“Stupid is supposed to hurt.” Lurker’s Granddad.
L
Depends on what one wants to do. It’s a must if you want to go into academia
A masters is usually enough for most anything else
Before receiving a nickel, students should be required to pass a rigorous test about the economics of student loans.