Rising costs could push college out of reach

[Nervous Drake]

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[Digidiver]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

Another reason so many are going into the military. Free tuition.

[tastymannatees]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

He should wait a year, the college market will crash like everything else

[Nervous Drake]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

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[kingcopper]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

Nobody is dropping out. They are afraid they will lose the progress they've made.

There's a lot of confusion out there, and I think a ton of people think that once Obama comes into office, things will start to make sense again.

I've noticed this unrelenting hope in the power of "The Obama" to make everything 1998 again.

Wait until late spring when winter leaves us and this man is credited with the most beautiful spring in modern history. Wait until late summer when were still looking for the change and hope is all but gone.

[Rajiv]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

If you are waiting for the "Obama Revolution," read this article by James Petras

A Historic Moment: The Election of the Greatest Con-Man in Recent History

“I have a vision of Americans in their 80’s being wheeled to their offices and factories having lost their legs in imperial wars and their pensions to Wall Street speculators and with bitter memories of voting for a President who promised change, prosperity and peace and then appointed financial swindlers and war mongers.” An itinerant Minister 2008

Introduction

The entire political spectrum ranging from the ‘libertarian’ left, through the progressive editors of the Nation to the entire far right neo-con/Zionist war party and free market Berkeley/Chicago/Harvard academics, with a single voice, hailed the election of Barack Obama as a ‘historic moment’, a ‘turning point in American history and other such histrionics. For reasons completely foreign to the emotional ejaculations of his boosters, it is a historic moment: witness the abysmal gap between his ‘populist’ campaign demagoguery and his long-standing and deepening carnal relations with the most retrograde political figures, power brokers and billionaire real estate and financial backers.

What was evident from even a cursory analysis of his key campaign advisers and public commitments to Wall Street speculators, civilian militarists, zealous Zionists and corporate lawyers was hidden from the electorate, by Obama’s people friendly imagery and smooth, eloquent deliverance of a message of ‘hope’. He effectively gained the confidence, dollars and votes of tens of millions of voters by promising ‘change’ (implying higher taxes for the rich, ending the Iraq war and national health care reform) when in fact his campaign advisers (and subsequent strategic appointments) pointed to a continuation of the economic and military policies of the Bush Administration.

Within 3 weeks of his election he appointed all the political dregs who brought on the unending wars of the past two decades, the economic policy makers responsible for the financial crash and the deepening recession castigating tens of millions of Americans today and for the foreseeable future. We can affirm that the election of Obama does indeed mark a historic moment in American history: The victory of the greatest con man and his accomplices and backers in recent history.
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[don]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

The Politics of Distraction, as noted at the beginning of the campaign. In a two-headed, one-party system in servitude to neo-liberalism, it seemed a radical choice had been made in partly addressing an historical crisis, a choice not without risk.

[grizam303]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

Another reason so many are going into the military. Free tuition.

"Free" is a great overstatement. I did my enlistment, went to a public college while working and having roommates (with my GI Bill), and still graduated with $25k in student loans.

When it's just a small segment of the population who's mired in debt, it's easy to attribute the blame to them. However, when it's the whole population, there's something flawed with the system.

But in this case, system > me.

[Wild Style]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

Nobody is dropping out. They are afraid they will lose the progress they've made.

There's a lot of confusion out there, and I think a ton of people think that once Obama comes into office, things will start to make sense again.

At the university I work at, dropping out has been occurring. In one instance, this lady who works with my wife went back to school. She actually enrolled in one of the graduate programs at one of the schools I work for. After she received her first bill she promptly withrdrew from the program. She was older and had a established career in one of the mental health professions. So for her dropping out wasn't a big issue. Also from the numbers we are seeing. We have a lot of people enrolling and then dropping out or going from full time to half time. Part of the problem is, peoples loans have been cut drastrically. That or people get freaked out at how much they will have to pay back later on. I can see a lot of colleges with in universities joining with other colleges or just ceasing to exist all together. So for example if you have the college of basket weavers and the college of carpet making with in the University of Hole Diggers, you will see these two colleges join together. You will then see one of those names disapper, so no more college of basket weavers for example.

During the "good times" a lot of wacky discplines were created. Also a lot of extremely useless degrees were being offered. I think college programs that were not ran effectively are going to suffer big time during this downturn. the landscape is going to look a lot different when the dust settles.

[Scot]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

He should wait a year, the college market will crash like everything else

Ah, another market inflated with the help of government subsidies.

The article is a complaint with the implied point that that ol' uncle sam should do even more to help students pay for education, and that the subsidies that cause rising prices must be met with more subsidies.

And given the political power of those in the education industry, I predict they'll get what they want and be some of the last to go bust. Governments everywhere will continue to support them until those governments simply run out of money. When is that going to happen? In a year? I don't know.

It's difficult for me to imagine education spending cuts any time soon. Anyone politician proposing such a thing is going to have thousands of those working in the education industry kicking them out of office in the next election.

Of course I may be underestimating just how money going into education is private money and privately borrowed money. But even then there will be calls for government to help make up the difference.

[ASH]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

Another reason so many are going into the military. Free tuition.

I did things in exactly the wrong order -- finished my education first and then joined the military (albeit for a short 4-year reserve contract). As I explained to a buddy, not everything I've done in my life has been well planned.

I think the military is an exceptionally good option right now. I was lucky to have parents who scrimped and saved, and who paid for me to attend a private college (back in '93-'97 when costs were somewhat lower). Today, knowing what I know now -- about debt, education, and the military -- I'd recommend the military to any young person who was looking for a way to pay for college.

[ASH]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

During the "good times" a lot of wacky discplines were created. Also a lot of extremely useless degrees were being offered. I think college programs that were not ran effectively are going to suffer big time during this downturn. the landscape is going to look a lot different when the dust settles.

College was the least pleasant experience of my life. Any day at work is a holiday compared to undergrad.

I am of the opinion that the reduced value of a general college degree in the job market is directly related to the fact that college is often thought of as one of the most enjoyable periods of a young man or woman's life. If college isn't tough, either you're a genius, or there won't be much demand for a person of your skills/motivation in the area of your studies. Elementary supply and demand -- if it's easy to train people to be like you, either because the subject matter isn't demanding, or because you didn't work very hard -- then your labor isn't going to be worth very much.

The number of Americans earning college degrees may have risen since WWII, but I am suspicious that the economic value of all that "education" did not increase proportionally.

For that matter, dare I hope that as Baby Boomers retire and Gen-Y is unable to pay for education, the value of my own educated labor will rise?

[Basil]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

The most intelligent financial decision I ever made was attending the university where my mother worked as administrator. I got a four year ride for free and I lived in mother's house. People kept asking me why I did not apply to a better university or get an apartment. When I told them my reasoning, they did not fully understand. Now that all my friends are still paying off college loans, they think I was a genius. I now teach at a private University, and I do not know why people pay as much as they for it. I think that our enrollments will fall off significantly in the next few years and some schools will be forced to reconsider some aspects of the tenure process.

[Nervous Drake]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

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[jtabeb]

Re: Rising costs could push college out of reach

I did things in exactly the wrong order -- finished my education first and then joined the military (albeit for a short 4-year reserve contract). As I explained to a buddy, not everything I've done in my life has been well planned.

I think the military is an exceptionally good option right now. I was lucky to have parents who scrimped and saved, and who paid for me to attend a private college (back in '93-'97 when costs were somewhat lower). Today, knowing what I know now -- about debt, education, and the military -- I'd recommend the military to any young person who was looking for a way to pay for college.

Or paying for your kids' education. The new GI bill is SUPPOSED to be transferable with 10 years of service.