Posted on 05/29/2011 6:55:00 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
College is a scam — so let’s make money off it
Commentary: Debt creates generation of indentured servants
By James Altucher
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — We can’t deny it anymore: College is a scam and a bubble — and the reasons why appear below. But I’ll be the first to admit it’s going to take years for that bubble to burst. And while college tuitions are still skyrocketing and student-loan debt is creating a generation of indentured servants, we might as well benefit from it.
Many stocks will continue to go up from the multidecade college bubble, even as it eventually bursts.
The Washington Post Co. (NYSE:WPO) , which owns Stanley Kaplan, gets all of its earnings from the education side of its business, while Blackboard (NASDAQ:BBBB) is the firepower underneath online course management. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has all the knowledge in the world at your fingertips and also is trying to get into the online course management game. And Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) increasing MacBook Air sales are due to colleges buying them for their labs. Then there’d probably be a basket of the cheaper online education schools like Apollo Group (NASDAQ:APOL) , etc.
Student-loan debt is now greater than credit-card debt for the first time ever. After the huge debt crisis we experienced in 2008 and the financial bust in housing that ruined so many lives, you would think we would be having more of a national discussion on this — but we just aren’t.
As a result, for the first time ever, we are graduating a generation of indentured servants rather than the entrepreneurs, innovators, artists and inventors that America is known for (I have no self-interest in this — I’m obviously not shorting colleges, as that’s impossible – I just hate seeing American go down the drain.)
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
I would think most kids could get everything they need from their local community college with perhaps a few courses at the watering holes close to the better universities to get Linkedin. A few years ago I would have included military service in the stack but I couldn’t see myself serving under a communist CinC and sleeping in a room filled with queers.
Liberal elites run colleges. Liberal elites are scammers. College is a scam...
Credentials are worthless if they aren't backed up with knowledge and/or experience.
What kind of idealized dream world do you live in? I have two words that can prove absolutely that credentials alone can have great worth, absolutely lacking any reasonable degree of competence:
Affirmative action.
Personnel departments, nationwide, are now so cowed by lawyers that they'll make that incompetent hire no matter what just to fill a slot, but only as long as the applicant possesses appropriate credentials. Therefore, credentials indeed have worth, any influence of reality notwithstanding.
Would you accept someone who just passed the test as sufficient?
Let’s look at some of these “students” that are in debt too. Many of the diploma mills will accept homeless people.
Excellent solutions.
No, but when you think about it, that's all the educrats do. I said there should be a guarantee too. Nobody does a good job of verification unless they've got a stake in the outcome.
Yes, more companies should hire high school dropouts, because they’re all exactly like Bill Gates who dropped out of college himself. The last thing an employer needs is some lazy good for nothing kid who spent four or more years trying learn something useful.
One word: Money. Degrees aren't created equal. My brother is an educated man with a masters in his field, but all from state U. His daughter went to an Ivy League school, and only has a BA. At 34 she was already a VP in a multinational. In his own words, "She lives a lifestyle that I could never afford to become accustomed to."
I didn't read it online, so I probably doesn't count, but the WSJ did a study and found that Ivy League grads could expect to earn close to 50% more in their lifetimes than those with comparable degrees from state universities.
That does make sense... but if someone is smart enough to go to an Ivy League school then there is certainly going to be some financial aid in the cards that would make such an education affordable. If someone has to pay full MSRP for an Ivy League education, that person probably does not belong there in the first place.
That being said, while Ivy League grads may have it in the cards to earn more, that doesn't mean that a person with drive and ambition who lacks a degree or who has a degree from a "lesser" school is relegated to a life of not making a good amount of money, either.
Oh without a doubt. However, I'm a firm believer that exceptions never prove rules, so I'd advise any young person to get the best education from the best school they can afford. It makes the odds of a successful career much more likely.
“Why is it important students be allowed to default on their loans? Seems like the exact opposite of what we should want”
No. The banks have very low risk now. Anyone gets a loan. Whenever you subsidize something the price goes up. (see housing). Interest rates represent risk.
The lender should assume responsibility if the borrower goes bankrupt. This would mean fewer loans to potential students, which decreases the demand for college and lowers the price.
Simple Supply/Demand.
(sorry for the delay)
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