Higher education creates poverty

Marshall University Parthenon ^ | 11/9/2005 | MICHAEL HUPP

[texassizednightcrawler]

Oh,to be young and really dumb. It not your fault you can't get a job in classical studies or art history. It is the capitalist system.

[Missus]

And I've yet to meet a plumber who makes only $25K a year.

[Ninian Dryhope]

Based on this column, I would say that Marshall University admits idiots and then allows them to write for the student paper.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

What's a real crime is saddling young twenty-somethings with $100,000 in student loans for a degree that qualifies them to flip burgers.

[Eepsy]

Is it just me or was that essay completely incoherent?

[mlc9852]

That is so sad. I think I might cry.

[Restorer]

If you do not go to college, you do not make enough money to provide for yourself.

What a pile!

There are millions of Americans who are doing quite well, thank you, without having had the opportunity to go to college. Myself among them.

The necessity of a college degree to success is one of the greatest myths of our age.

Formal college education can be great. It is not at all essential.

[ladyjane]

These kids think it's their *right* to have a college education at a $40,000 a year institution. Of course they think it's their *right* to have a lot of things. Life is going to be tough for them.

[texassizednightcrawler]

I would have to say the school has gone down hill since I was a student.

[Sonny M]

You give more money in financial aid or whatever, and the colleges compensate by raising tuition rates.

Its why college tuition rises faster then inflation (by astronomical amounts).

There are various solutions that would be more feasable and effective....and do not require congress and its iatrogenic side effects.

See Milton Friedman for more information.

[USAConstitution]

What's a real crime is saddling young twenty-somethings with $100,000 in student loans for a degree that qualifies them to flip burgers.

BRAVO!!!

[Tax-chick]

What a dope. Shut up and get a job, kid.

[RockinRight]

Q: What's the first thing a liberal arts graduate says on their first day of their new job?

A: "Would you like fries with that?"

[Ninian Dryhope]

"Do you know how many people I know who are waiting tables to pay off their loans because they cannot find a job in their fields?"

My daughter has loans to help finance her college education. She is now in her senior year at Rice. She already has a job offer to start working for a major German Chemical company with operations here in Texas. She will have no trouble paying off her loans. Of course, she majored in Chemical Engineering, not Woman's Studies.

Anyone in America, who wants to get an education can get an education. It is no doubt harder for some than it is for others, but anyone who is willing to do what it takes can get a decent education.

[from occupied ga]

while the poor ones will not be able to afford it. The same privileged few running our country will continue to rule. The poor will continue to struggle to live, thanks to less government assistance.

This lying little POS doesn't have a clue. Last I heard most so-called "scholarships" were nothing of the sort, but rather "needships" where those famlies that exhibited the most irresponsible fiscal behavior were rewarded with grants and no interest loans, while those famlies who scrimped and saved were paying the full freight for their own children and the deadbeats' children too. (run on sentence I know)

[sageb1]

"If you want qualified workers to fuel capitalism, then make it worth it for a student to go to a two-year institution, not a penalty. Cut out the unnecessary courses provided in four-year colleges and help students save money, while getting the training we need to be productive pawns of American society."

In a nutshell. Higher education is big business and serves to keep citizens out of the workforce for an extra four years - oh wait, 5 years...no, make that 6...

[2banana]

Go to trade school, you might luck into a job that pays more than $25,000 a year,

Especially if you study "Post Modern Womyn Literature" or "Hispanic History"

[texassizednightcrawler]

Your right, considering college had gone down hill, since 1998 when I finish my MBA. Most the students are graduating with degrees in sociology or silliness, which have little value. My mother would have killed me if went to school to become a Social Worker. She would have told me I was wasting their money.

[Ninian Dryhope]

"They just do not have credible two-year journalism schools in the "system's" eyes."

They do not have any credible journalism schools at all in West Virgina, do they? For that matter, are there any credible J-schools anywhere? I think Columbia's is supposed to be the best and they are just a bunch of commies.

[Lou L]

Is a higher education worth it under America's capitalist system?

If your degree is in a field that our capitalist system values, then yes, a higher education is worth it.

If you go into debt with student loans trying to obtain a degree in a field of study that is not highly-valued by our markets, then no, a degree is a poor investment.

That's really the way to look at a higher education...as an investment. You may get caught up in the "academia" aspect -- "I'm in my field of study for the pure enjoyment of learning." But for those of us who don't come from wealth, or who aren't trust-fund babies, an education is usually the best way to get well into the economic middle class.

And what's all this talk about trade schools? I suppose there are certain trades in which someone could make a very decent living--plumbing, auto mechanics, etc. I would think that someone in any of those fields would make far above 25K a year.