Posted on 12/11/2016 2:28:33 PM PST by reaganaut1
American college students have taken to saying that they need “safe spaces” on campus. They really don’t, since all they’re after is “safety” from ideas they dislike. But if they were thinking ahead to life after graduation, many might wonder if they’ll need a safe space when the bills for their college loans start coming due.
Much as they may want one, there won’t be any such haven. Bad borrowing decisions are almost impossible to escape.
Consider the case of Liz Kelley, who is more than $410,000 in debt to the government for her student loans, as we learn in this New York Times piece by Kevin Carey. She first borrowed for her education degree at Maryville University, but when no teaching job opened up for her, she decided to go on for another degree in a shrinking field—law.
By continuing her education, Liz was able to put her loan payments on hold. She borrowed more for law school, but was able to complete only one year before dropping out for medical reasons. She’s had little work and can’t make any headway against her huge and steadily mounting debt balance.
Carey puts his finger on the essence of the problem that lures so many American students into the debt trap. “Our culture encourages trust in college. When people walk onto a used car lot, they understand that promises of easy credit are just another trick for a slick salesman to close a deal. The local university and the Department of Education, by contrast, are assumed to have students’ best interests in mind.”
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
We can break the university cartel in two easy steps:
1. Allow bankruptcy for student loans again after a period of time, but
2. Bill the bankrupted debt to the university which took the loan money. Ie, a “clawback” provision.
This would force universities to stop taking in loan money from students whose degrees have no prospect of repayment.
What? That’s what you call Leverage on Compliant Citizens.
I bet it would make liberals heads explode if they realized that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates never received a college degree but yet became billionaires. And there are more than that. Michael Dell, Ralph Lauren, Ted Turner, and even Mark Zuckerberg never did either.
If students are in debt because of out of control costs at colleges, too bad, they should have chosen better.
I had a acquaintance once who took government loans for college believing they didn't have to be paid back....boy was she surprised.
What if we stopped using tax dollars for loans and let the market lend the money?
I’ll bet we’d see all sorts of creative ways to make that work and reduce defaults.
It would also force the universities to offer courses that work in the real world (because a free lending markets would not lend money for stupid courses).
1. Allow bankruptcy for student loans again after a period of time, but
How about just say “no”. That would break the colleges with no chance of taxpayers having to bail out the stupid.
it isn’t ‘the feds’ who are luring students into debt. it is the big education cartel amassing huge salaries and delivering less and less relevancy.
Good plan. Also, how about offering training courses in High School which would let kids leave H.S. and get right into the job market? I graduated in 1957, but my last two years in High School they offered a 2 hour course daily in my Junior and Senior H.S. years. You had to be a good student and have enough credits to graduate to be able to attend these classes as they provided no credit towards graduation, but we were taught shorthand, typing, office machines, filing, etc. Just before graduating H.S. we were then sent to our local college to sit the test that their 2 year business course students took and if we passed (I did, yay) you got a Professional Business Woman’s 2 yr. college certificate in that course. At 17 I was a fully fledged secretary, and was able to find work immediately, and did secretarial work continuously into my 40’s when I finally quit work. We NEED trade schools in High School!
It’s not the Ferrel’s fault. It’s the fault of leftist professors getting paid more than 5x the minimum wage both both hours they actually work and hours they don’t. And the Yuge increase in Administrators over the last 50 years. Not to speak of the reduction in the value of what they profess in their classes.
It’s not the Ferrel’s fault. It’s the fault of leftist professors getting paid more than 5x the minimum wage for both hours they actually work and hours they don’t. And the Yuge increase in Administrators over the last 50 years. Not to speak of the reduction in the value of what they profess in their classes.
College is a money laundering operation for the Left...
Went to several college applications process meetings at my oldest’s school...we’re shooting for both kids to go here at University of Cincinnati and get finished with no debt...I pointed it out to the counselor who was encouraging us to look at other private schools more prestigious and we should do loans and such...she didn’t understand living at home and my logic...get it done and start earning and saving...and I said the extra debt didn’t beat simple economic diminishing returns calculations...she thought I had a horn growing out of my forehead...the parents in the crowd with their advanced degrees and failure to grasp math concepts...dumb as rocks...truly I say with confidence we are likely the only conservatives at this school.
I have reviewed college costs over the decades. I don’t have right in front of me, but, in comparing college costs, family income, family income, and rates of inflation, it appears that increases in college costs have far exceeded family income growth and rates of inflation.
Now, while confronting high costs, students and families have to be realistic. It might make sense for some, to take out loans, if getting a degree in a field which leads to a career path of good paying jobs. Degrees in accounting, nursing, many of the hard sciences, for example,may well be worth borrowing to achieve.
Borrowing huge amounts to get a college degree in women’s studies makes no sense. While the study of women may be fascinating, there are simply not job opportunities in our economy for women studiers.
Anyone getting a degree in some field which doesn’t lead to a career path, needs to go in with eyes wide open.
Agreed. We need that too.
I graduated in ‘70 and we had vocational classes available to us outside the normal curricula (I took drafting, but went on to college).
I’ve often wondered why I’ve never heard of a high school teaching students to balance a checkbook, basic money management or investing 101. Those are skills every citizen needs. (Maybe some teach these things and I’m unaware.)
I do believe the university cartels need to be broken up too.
I will bet she likes Obamacare too.
I had an aunt that got her nursing degree courtesy of the taxpayers. There was a shortage of nurses, probably WWII, and a program was created.
Hadn't heard much about it, until I was listening to some OTR shows, and danged if a "PSA" didn't crop up in one of them, hawking the program. Can't remember the series, unfortunately.
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