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Higher education creates poverty
Marshall University Parthenon ^ | 11/9/2005 | MICHAEL HUPP

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.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: West Virginia; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: collegecost
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To: texassizednightcrawler
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

I've been saying this for years. Plumbing students don't need to take electives in literature, so why should chemistry students?

61 posted on 11/09/2005 11:24:08 AM PST by A Ruckus of Dogs
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To: Ninian Dryhope

Not only can I not think of what a degree in Women's Studies would qualify someone for other than more education, I would not hire someone with that degree because I would see only one word: Trouble.


62 posted on 11/09/2005 11:24:36 AM PST by Great Caesars Ghost (The Fault, dear Brutus, is not in the Stars, but in ourselves..)
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To: Lou L

My point was that he, like others of his "class" already had the advantage to go to a "better" school. So, I tend to agree with the writer of the article here. Money breeds money. I am not discounting my own skills, but just realizing that some people already get to start off at a much higher standard of living (thanks to parents w/ money mostly) that the rest of us have to work for to even get to that point. I don't begrudge any honest working person who has money. What upsets me, though, is the plethora of kids who party and goof off in college but still end up getting great jobs with good pay...all thanks to their well off parents subsidizing them the whole way.


63 posted on 11/09/2005 11:25:05 AM PST by jrny (Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicto Decimo Sexto.)
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To: Ninian Dryhope

"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."

Washington and Lee.


64 posted on 11/09/2005 11:29:18 AM PST by Gone GF
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To: texassizednightcrawler

My father went to college during the depression. His parents were dirt poor. His mother never attended college, but managed to get what was then the equivalent of a high school "ged" and eventually a teacher's certificate that allowed her to teach in one room schools out in the boondocks. His father found abandoned, falling down farm houses that he could fix up and repair as rent. My dad left home at 13 and between basketball and work paid his own way through both high school and college. Not an intellectual giant, but smarter than the average, my dad made up for his economic weaknesses with plain old hard work and determination. He didn't need help from the government. Neither did Abe Lincoln; what makes you think anybody else does?


65 posted on 11/09/2005 11:29:47 AM PST by Reaganghost (Democrats are living proof that you can fool some of the people all of the time.)
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To: jrny
I didn't post the articles about police breaking up the student block party. The police tell to leave. So what do they do? Throw beer bottles and eggs and cops whip out pepper spray. They complain the police acted unprofessionally! I swear sounds like something from the Savage Nation.
66 posted on 11/09/2005 11:30:15 AM PST by texassizednightcrawler
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To: texassizednightcrawler
I once had client who had a MBA and owned a plumbing company

LOL. Was he a plumber with an MBA, a company owner but not a plumber, or just an MBA who needed guaranteed access to a plumber?

67 posted on 11/09/2005 11:30:57 AM PST by 11Bush
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To: PeteB570
I would recommend having your kids live at home and go to the local community college for the first couple of years.

Not only will this save a ton of money, but it will let your kids grow up a bit before they are exposed to college life. There is a lot of difference between an 18 year old and a 20 year old.

If your kids do well in community classes, there is no problem with having them transfer to even the best colleges. If your kids do not do so well in community college, then at least you have learned that college was not their thing without having to spend a fortune.

Most of the time the classes in community college are much smaller than are the equivalent introductory classes at state colleges, so the kids in the community college get a little more individual attention.

In any case, that is what has worked out well for our family.
68 posted on 11/09/2005 11:32:11 AM PST by Ninian Dryhope
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To: Ninian Dryhope

True, but saidly Mr. Hupp is a graduate student!


69 posted on 11/09/2005 11:34:57 AM PST by texassizednightcrawler
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To: PeteB570
I just got hit with that.

I went through it some time ago. I feel your pain :-)

70 posted on 11/09/2005 11:35:03 AM PST by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy, and Bush is no conservative)
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To: Ninian Dryhope

K-Mart has this journalism kit. Just as useful as any "journalism school."

71 posted on 11/09/2005 11:35:21 AM PST by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
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To: from occupied ga

"but rather "needships" where those famlies that exhibited the most irresponsible fiscal behavior were rewarded with grants and no interest loans,"

After leaving the Army, I had $10K in the bank for school. Due to that savings, I qualified for zippo. Within a year I had to spend the whole thing. They guy across the hall from me was also older. After graduating HS, he started working full time as a bank teller in Chicago. He had a nice apt. as well as many "toys." He was in hock up to his eyebrows. Then his bank was bought out and they kicked him to the curb.

He then filed for bankruptcy, which resulted in a full ride.


72 posted on 11/09/2005 11:36:10 AM PST by CSM (When laws are written, they apply to ALL...Not just the yucky people you don't like. - HairOfTheDog)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

"She is lucky."

Yes, she is very happy to have the job offer in her back pocket while she finishes her senior year. It takes a lot of the pressure off. Now she can just enjoy her classes.


73 posted on 11/09/2005 11:38:45 AM PST by Ninian Dryhope
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To: texassizednightcrawler

The only thing he is correct about is trade school. Not everybody is made for college; And plumbers and carpenters can earn d@mn good livings, too.

If anything, colleges need to be more exclusive, and we need more and better trade schools.


74 posted on 11/09/2005 11:43:19 AM PST by Little Ray (I'm a reactionary, hirsute, gun-owning, knuckle dragging, Christian Neanderthal and proud of it!)
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To: jrny
You have a point, about "money breeding money." You and I are in similar situations though--we've worked hard to get our degrees--and I think I'm much better off with one than without. While it'll always be more challenging to compete against those with "connections," we're at least, "in the game" now.

Hopefully, our children will be that much better off, and then generations from now, our great grandchildren will have those connections too.

75 posted on 11/09/2005 11:43:47 AM PST by Lou L
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To: texassizednightcrawler
Utter baloney. my first degree was in history. I went back to school while working at night, and got a degree in Applied Mathematics. I'm what would be statistically classified as UMC. People that lack paying jobs, generally are either very unfortunate or highly unmotivated. Neither has anything to do w/ what you study in college.
76 posted on 11/09/2005 11:47:11 AM PST by .cnI redruM (Sticking a microphone in front of (Terrell) Owens is like giving a crackhead a spoonful.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
No one saddles you with a degree. In most places, you spend a ton of $$$ and sometimes work your butt off for the privilege. Do your research prior to enrolling in a course of study.
77 posted on 11/09/2005 11:48:25 AM PST by .cnI redruM (Sticking a microphone in front of (Terrell) Owens is like giving a crackhead a spoonful.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants
Rice only has about 15 ChemE's per year graduating, which does not saturate the Houston market.

TAMU and TU both have big classes, however, and they sill all seem to find jobs. I noticed the other day that last year the average starting salary for a Texas A&M Chemical Engineer was $56,000. The average Math SAT score for ChemE's at Texas A&M, according to their web site, is 659. 75% of all Rice students, including their psychology, English, and art majors, have Math SAT scores above 670.

Most chemical engineering schools are adding bio engineering to their names and required classes in order to cash in on the new bio tech industry.
78 posted on 11/09/2005 11:48:45 AM PST by Ninian Dryhope
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To: texassizednightcrawler

I dropped out of high school, got a GED, paid my dues as a file clerk and worked my way up to becoming a Industrial insurance account manager. 16 years in the field and I make more than most college grads because I learned from experience.

I will encourage (as a matter of fact my kids think it's a law you can't have children until you get a college degree, lol) my children to attend school. But in this world, people think they can walk out of college and make $100,000 a year. Not gonna happen.


79 posted on 11/09/2005 11:49:03 AM PST by sandbar
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To: 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.

Nobody's forcing them to select majors that are not marketable in today's economy. There are plenty of majors that almost guarantee you a starting salary of at least $40K with lots of opportunity for advancement (accounting being one). Further, there are plenty of schools that don't cost $100,000. There's a whole marketplace of schools and majors to choose from. These kids ought to do a little research before selecting a major in Elizabethan Poetry.
80 posted on 11/09/2005 11:50:20 AM PST by VegasCowboy ("...he wore his gun outside his pants, for all the honest world to feel.")
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