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.
A good friend's baby sister got a PhD in history from Rice University. Twenty years later she's still paying the bills and never did get a job in her field.
Sounds "fair"* to me. After all it's about leveling the playing field score board.
* fair as defined by a liberal instution of higher learning means
So let's exploit 18 year olds who don't know their butt from a hole in the ground. It's their fault for being so stupid.
Q: "How do you get an Art History major off your front porch?"
A: "Pay for the pizza."
College is great! (if you want to be a teacher)
I've been saying that for years and years.
When I was in college, one of my professors was talking about how government should increase financial aid and all sorts of gimmicks.
She kept taking either the student point of view or the government point of view.
So I took the college point of view and said I would just keep jacking up tuition bills, since its the college is going to get its money anyway, why wouldn't they just jack it higher and higher, no matter what?
For the weirdest reason, this seemed to disorient her, and she tried to say that not all universities would do that.
I just asked for a show of hands on how many kids in class had see tuition and/or book bills go up since they had been there.
The whole class minus a couple raised their hands (2 kids had gotten a special locked in tution rate which required higher rates, but kept you immune from hikes.
It's also why whenever I hear about price gouging I laugh since colleges are the biggest price gougers in the country...bar none.
You could have been an English teacher.>>>>>>
He must have gone straight into business classes and skipped over elementary English.
Can you imagine having to fire a guy who majored in Black Studies? You could bet on a law suit based on discrimination. You would have an employee for life or have to pay out the nose.
Apprentice yourself in a trade, straight out of high school. The trades often require a high school diploma. Of course, you have to have some basic skills, and some of those aren't taught in college but are taught in trade school. Or hire a tutor. Plumbing and electrical are very near professional, welding is a very strong trade, beyond professional in some ways. A person could write his own ticket in any of these trades and go to college later after he has become a $brazillionaire if he wants to study philosophy in college for some arcane reason. The golden age of construction is just beginning.
Which is the real issue with the American system of higher education. To many degrees that are just a $100K bar tab, and to few that will actually help a student be successful.
"I'm what would be statistically classified as UMC."
UMC = Ultra Math Challenged?
That has a great deal to do with your location. Plumbers in Texas don't do nearly so well.
That's the smartest thing this kid said. Look at how the idea that "you must go to 4-year college or you're a loser" is pushed on high school kids and their parents. It's a scare tactic that does more harm than good. Most kids would be better served if they went to a trade school.
I went to a trade school first, then got a job in my field (electronics) and paid my way through an electrical engineering degree. I ended up graduating with no debt and more money than I started with. Hopefully Junior puts his money where his mouth is--he'll end up better off for it.
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