Soaring Student Debt Prompts Calls for Relief

Instead of removing skilled jobs and increasing a job pool of less skilled ones, tech can increase efficiency of master craftsman to the point where there is no need for the less skilled/experienced apprentices, thereby compressing the job pool instead of expanding it.

I managed to go to a small public university after the tuition hike but before the Great Fees Gouging. I'd probably have escaped with $5,000 less in debt if I had started with my state's (Georgia's Hope) merit based scholarship instead of having to build up 10 semester hours totally on Federal UnSubsidized Loans the first year.

At that point, used Ebay books could run you well past $1,000 a semester. Hope only gave you a $150 for books. Hope also did not cover fees. Those started at about $800 every semester when I enrolled. My 4th year, they had hit well past $2,500 per semester. Included in that was $150 to build a new student recreation center that I would never use since it wasn't even being built yet.

The amount of hustle I had to do just to escape that school with minimal debt was insane. My overloaded schedule (because semester hours past 12 didn't increase your tuition or fees) meant I needed a job that let me do study or homework while working. So typical service jobs off-campus were out of the question. My year basically was applying for summer retail jobs, lying my face off during the interview that I was going to stay on past the summer, and then of course quitting. I'm basically black-listed from several retailers for quitting for this reason. Christmas was always easier because those jobs are naturally seasonal.

During school, I'd tutor various core classes under the table. At my university, this was considered quasi-against-the-rules. Tutors were supposed to go through the Student Support Center. They'd pay you hourly minimum wage and set you up with other students for free. Tutors who were students caught not going this route were usually sanctioned by the university and threatened with all sorts of administrative punishments.

Naturally, this was unacceptable to tutors, so we all snuck around advertising by word of mouth and meeting off campus. I mean, when I can easily pull $100 a session as the only person willing to try to cram Plato into your brain, why would I go through the SSC? Calculus was a bit harder because there was more competition, so that usually ran about $60 to start. Once I had kids getting their B's and telling their friends, I was able to pull $100. I ran a group rate for a Fraternity that was a flat $350 a month.

I lived off campus, because rent on a 3 bedroom, 2 bath was $950/month plus utilities. Speaking of hustle, keeping those bedrooms stocked with roommates was it's own drama. Kicking roommates who fell behind was even worse. The lease was in my name, because most places I went to rent a room were on 6 month leases and headed home every summer. I wanted something more permanent since I was staying in town year round.

All said, I managed to escape with just over $30,000 in debt. That's tuition, fees, and about $10,000 a year to supplement all my other income. I hit a job immediately and started burning it down as fast as possible. I landed a better job with nice, $10,000 yearly bonuses and finished murdering it.

This was right as the next big wave of inflation hit higher education. Now? I went back and poked some of my social circle in that town. Getting out without $60,000 in debt is basically impossible. If you live outside of a 10 mile radius of the campus, you are required to live in the dorms your Freshman year. Literally every course uses some sort of book with an online component. To access that component, you have to buy the book new to get a code. The university regularly charges current students fees to raise money for buildings that won't be built for 5 years. They recently charged a parking fee, and then made all lots on campus hourly paid parking. The lot that parking fee is for? It's about a 4 minute walk off campus. Good luck if your class is on the other side of the campus.

Part time students are actually charged the exact same fees, but are not allowed access to several benefits of of the campus. This is disguised as "discounts" for full time students at on campus food vendors, a higher co-pay for health services (physical and mental), and being barred from the free tutors (that no one can use because we won't work for them) Student Resource Center.

The problem isn't just the loans, it's a deep cultural problem in the administration of these universities. University presidents down to the department chairs are held to metrics that lead to perverse incentives. They must milk students of every dollar possible so they feed the enrollment machine. This leads to admitting students that probably shouldn't be admitted. This leads them to dumb down courses to graduate students who have no business having a degree to feed the graduation rate.

TL;DR: The US higher education system is abusive and terrible. Avoid at all costs.

Comparing higher education to job training is especially damaging in a fast paced economy with new fields and jobs popping up all the time.

It's also worth noting that 2.5% is still higher than inflation in the last couple years.