Oh, so expensive private education is only sustainable in a hyper-inflated economy? That's sarcastically unexpected.
Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education
11–20 of 848 posts
Re: Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education
#12College isn't as appealing as it once was. In order to participate in the economy, we need a well-paying job. We're told to get a well-paying job, we need a good degree. To get a good degree, many of us have to go into debt. We finish college with a good degree but are saddled with thousands of dollars of debt (sometimes tens of thousands). And this college debt doesn't go away if we go bankrupt. It will always follo…
You are still way better off with college than without. It’s not as good a deal as it used to be but it’s still the best deal available.
Re: Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me how 15K+ in tuition a year is acceptable. No sympathy here for the college industry.
Gotta pay for those basketball and football programs somehow. (Yes, SOME athletics programs are net positive - most are not)
I didn't realize that. Do you have a source for this, please?
Re: Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education
#14I wish I could be more sympathetic to the college industrial complex, but they've been treat us poorly for years. Yes, I know it's our fault for demanding gold plated educational experiences and then going into crazy debt to finance it. But who wants to blame himself/herself? The job can be done better for much less. Indeed, it used to be much cheaper in the past when the dorms weren't so fancy and there were a bazil…
I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me how 15K+ in tuition a year is acceptable. No sympathy here for the college industry.
There’s a bit of a rat race in colleges posturing to get ahead of each other always, and that takes capital investment and the recourse to raise funds ends up being tuition.
These things and reputations take years and tons of willpower and planning, so the risk of falling behind is immense.
Re: Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education
#15The culture of higher education isn't what it used to be. The advancement of knowledge is now secondary to economic growth in a university. Students begin as customers and turn into products by graduation. Universities used to be gatekeepers to better economic opportunities but those opportunities have disappeared. This is a relatively recent phenomenon in that Baby Boomers don't have the student loan obligations that generations following them do. Boomers changed the policies to suit their own financial interests, destroying the opportunities that they benefited by for future generations. Massive student loan debt constrains major life decisions and limits access to credit. It's a lot easier to navigate life when you don't carry inescapable debt burdens. Government refused to limit access to credit and that allowed universities to constantly charge more every year. You can't escape student loan debt as you can business loans by declaring bankruptcy because of a fundamentally flawed logic about what the student loan enabled. Higher education is an economic investment. Yet, when the investment fails, the lenders aren't exposed to the losses -- the borrowers are. This has been a great deal for lenders as they aren't exposed to risk.
Unfortunately, neither a Trump nor Biden administration is going to change anything. It's up to the free market and entrepreneurs to disrupt this exploitative system.
Re: Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education
#16I wish I could be more sympathetic to the college industrial complex, but they've been treat us poorly for years. Yes, I know it's our fault for demanding gold plated educational experiences and then going into crazy debt to finance it. But who wants to blame himself/herself? The job can be done better for much less. Indeed, it used to be much cheaper in the past when the dorms weren't so fancy and there were a bazil…
maybe the dept of education should stipulate that 80% of college operating budgets be direct teaching/research costs, lest their fed loan largess be taken away. and progressively tax endowments, particularly targeting above a threshold of $100K/student or something like that.
currently, the incentives are such that greedy people can just milk all the unrestrained cash flow coming into what should be a non-profit-oriented institution.
Re: Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education
#17I wish I could be more sympathetic to the college industrial complex, but they've been treat us poorly for years. Yes, I know it's our fault for demanding gold plated educational experiences and then going into crazy debt to finance it. But who wants to blame himself/herself? The job can be done better for much less. Indeed, it used to be much cheaper in the past when the dorms weren't so fancy and there were a bazil…
I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me how 15K+ in tuition a year is acceptable. No sympathy here for the college industry.
[deleted]
Re: Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education
#18I wish I could be more sympathetic to the college industrial complex, but they've been treat us poorly for years. Yes, I know it's our fault for demanding gold plated educational experiences and then going into crazy debt to finance it. But who wants to blame himself/herself? The job can be done better for much less. Indeed, it used to be much cheaper in the past when the dorms weren't so fancy and there were a bazil…
>> The adjunct professors get paid next to nothing. Let's give them a slight raise, fire 90% of the deans
This is where the education industry can learn from the law schools. They are certainly ivory towers, but part of that tradition is that law school deans still ussually teach. My first year contracts prof was also the school dean. Law school deans remain largely 'first among many' rather than a separate profession, the 'professional administrators'.
Re: Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education
#19College isn't as appealing as it once was. In order to participate in the economy, we need a well-paying job. We're told to get a well-paying job, we need a good degree. To get a good degree, many of us have to go into debt. We finish college with a good degree but are saddled with thousands of dollars of debt (sometimes tens of thousands). And this college debt doesn't go away if we go bankrupt. It will always follo…
I think in state tuition at a public university is often still a very good deal w/o nearly the debt profile.
Re: Colleges at the breaking point, forcing ‘hard choices’ about education
#20This is where the continental european model of the university is so much better than the anglo-american one.
Universities should be about coursework and research, that's it. Dorms, dining halls, gyms, social clubs, sports etc. are not part of the university's mission