Posted on 11/09/2005 10:43:17 AM PST by texassizednightcrawler
Higher education is slowly becoming a catalyst for a class system in America and Congress is fueling the problem.
Congress is proposing to cut financial aid funding to students. Any student whose family is classified under the level of "lower-middle" class is going to have a difficult time finding finances to receive a higher education. I once heard someone say, "The world needs ditch diggers too." Well, that is fine and dandy, but digging ditches barely keeps pay above the poverty level.
The class system is slowly emerging, driven by America's higher education system. Rich kids will get to go to college, 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.
I know, less government assistance raises red flags and allegations of "just live on welfare your whole life," but what does the government expect people to do? They wonder why people pump out five kids to receive more benefits. Granted, there are some citizens who plot and scheme so they do not have to work, but not everyone thinks and operates that way. Some just do not have the resources and the ones they do have are limited.
Which brings me to the point of my column: Is a higher education worth it under America's capitalist system? Think about it. Students are financing their lives away for a degree. Getting a degree does not guarantee a student a job when they graduate. 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? It is not a trend just occurring in West Virginia, but across the country, in cities large and small.
The further I go in my college career, I realize I should have attended a two-year trade school. I could have been making money by now, rather than adding to my debt acquired while in school. Think about it. In a capitalist society, going to trade school is your best bet. No taking classes not related to your major and racking up loans. No getting caught in the "well-rounded" education trap emphasized at four-year institutions. What better way to fade into oblivion and join the "capitalist machine?" At least then, citizens can make some money sooner to survive.
As students, our backs are against the wall. If you do not go to college, you do not make enough money to provide for yourself. Go to trade school, you might luck into a job that pays more than $25,000 a year, but chances are, you will end up working a service job until you die, because there is no such thing as retirement in the service industry. They just do not have credible two-year journalism schools in the "system's" eyes.
I once had a respected, tenured professor tell us in class, "A well rounded education means you can recite poetry at the dinner table." Learn from this proverb. Tell your Congressmen that cutting financial aid is not the answer if they want to save money. Revamp and evaluate the school system itself. 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.
Every MBA I know has to hire a $100 an hour plumber or auto mechanic. None of the plumbers and auto mechanics I know have to hire an MBA.
It was written by a dual personality with each side taking turns.
BALONEY!
What part of "WORK your way through College" do today's children not understand?
If your grades are good enough to get you into a college, there are SCHOLARSHIPS available as well.
"The PROBLEM with the cost of higher education, is precisely that Govt subsidizes it, period! By creating a higher demand than otherwise would be, the costs have soared."
The ONLY education the government should sponsor are scholarships for the brightest scientists, and engineers. Of course, we do everything bassackwards here, and it is going to cost us dearly. Truth to tell, it already has!
"I also had a girlfriend who transferred to the University of West Virgina from Carnegie Mellon, probably because her parents wanted to get her away from me."
R O T F L M A O
Where's the plunger?
You could have been an English teacher.
You should be commended for your hard work. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
In this situation however, we're talking about something a little different. This person you work for, has a degree from a well-known school. PSU is not Ivy League, but it's well-regarded as turning out decent grads.
Your boss may have their position through other means. Perhaps their family has connections with others in your company. Perhaps your boss has good administrative skills (which don't have to be degree-specific). Perhaps your boss is a good yes-man, schmoozer, or whatever. You'll have those in any company, regardless of the education. In this case, the degree opens the door for bigger things.
"Alas, he went to Penn State"
Penn State is not exactly the Ivy League. Perhaps your boss has a lot on the ball.
And why did they pick fields that would have limited demand when they graduated? Is society supposed to create jobs in fields where there is not an economic need for those jobs?
"The further I go in my college career, I realize I should have attended a two-year trade school. I could have been making money by now, rather than adding to my debt acquired while in school. Think about it. In a capitalist society, going to trade school is your best bet."
So why all the complaint about the cost of college if work, experience and an AA degree is a better deal?
"They just do not have credible two-year journalism schools in the "system's" eyes.
Ah, now we see the real complaint. The pay in the Lame Stream Media is so lousy that the cost of a four year degree in "journalism", whatever in the hell that means, cannot be paid of in a lifetime, unless you can lie your way to the top fast enough.
People make bad choices and then its the government's fault those choices create unexpected problems. Boo hoo.
An intelligent person who dedicates themselves to the fast food industry can make $50k-$100k per year if they make manager.
"Is a higher education not worth the paper it's printed on and people shouldn't bother, or should the government dump more money into making sure everyone gets this "worthless" piece of paper."
You are right that he seems not to know, but he is sure that he hats capitalism and America, so at least he has the basics, as defined by our education system, down pat.
let Michael Hupp drop out and become a ditch digger, otherwise I really don't care about his elitist opinions on the elite, excluding himself and his friends, of course.
She is lucky. Ten years ago when Chem-E's were piling out of colleges they saturated the market and few could find jobs.
I once had client who had a MBA and owned a plumbing company
Hmmm... think this could be the problem with the health care system as well?
I work for a company as a software product manager, my direct reports went to Harvard, UC Berkeley and Northwestern respectively. I went to a cheaper public university whose mascot rhymes with taters. The guy who signs my check was a HS grad. Oh to be young, dumb and full of...horse pucky. This is actually an old rant that stirs up every election year because the left is so bankrupt of ideas they have to scare the belly button ring and tribal tattoo crowd with cuts to their precious Stafford Loans and Pell Grants. Man with so many losers being manufactured by today’s university, if you have half a brain and some conservative common sense you can make a good living. The world economy needs workers and not whiners. The US economy is so wonderfully Darwinian and the Chuckie Shummers and Bill Mahrs of the world don’t wind up being ditch diggers but being the assistant manager at Starbucks, reading Kafka and hopelessly trying to date chicks 15 years younger. Keep whining junior and it'll take 50 years to pay off those loans.
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