When will we address tuition & student loan reform?

As much an issue as healthcare costs & medicals bills are to the American people, I would submit the cost of higher education & ever-expanding student loan debt is every bit as serious.
Will we wait until this bubble bursts before we tackle the issue?

 

Government run Student Loans x 10 = Government run Healthcare

 

I see we have another parent who has screwed himself through support of the GOP's anti-education agenda that basically removes funding for public institutions forcing these same institutions to charge the actual cost of education rather than the state subsidized cost of education. Here's an idea for all those parents, just send your kids to a private institution. I'm sure they are much, much cheaper. <sarcasm>
The cost of education for students at public universities has traditionally been subsidized by state tax dollars. In other words, you and I. Over the last 30 year, one party has made sure that our tax dollars pay less and less into these public institutions while both parties have robbed the public pension funds. Now we are stuck with large institutions with declining enrollments, declining funding for students, and skyrocketing tuition costs. I don't know anyone in higher education that is swimming in funding. Salary cuts are far more common than anything near an annual incremental raise that have been basically eliminated and attrition and brain drain have become the norm. Education is costing more right as the quality of education is declining due mainly to budget cuts. This is how we have decided to educate the next generation. I'm sure it will work out well for us.... Again <saracsm>

 

Student loans have alway been government run. The only recent difference is that government, or you and I, have always assumed all of the financial risks of all of these loans. The banks reaped all of the profits. Now the money saved is going to subsidize students through Pell Grants rather than the bank's bottom line. How awful.

 

Yep...and how's that working out? Government subsidies lead to higher prices and lower quality.

 

Defend the system all you want but the truth is, if you take any healthcare argument & substitute tuition cost for healthcare cost & student loan debt for medical bills, it is just as valid. Like healthcare, higher education is vital to our country. Like medical costs, tuitions are increasing beyond the point many can afford to pay & like medical bills, student loan debt is strangling the population.

 

I think you're conflating the cost of education with student loans. They are really two different issues. State governments have subsidized education in the past to make it more affordable and accessible to more people because a better educated society benefits everyone. Government subsidies of higher education have always resulted in LOWER costs for students. The quality has suffered as a result of the LACK of those subsidies. So essentially, your blanket statement is hogwash.

 

I'm glad to see that you know the value of education. I'm also glad that you finally see the results of the party you support. I will agree that you can find Democrats as well as Republicans that have contributed to the problem but it has clearly been spearheaded by the Right. Now putting the blame game aside for a moment, the real issue as I see it is that you have kids reaching college age and you have saved little or nothing for their education. Now you have decided to complain about something that directly affects YOU but has been impacting educators, families, and students for a long time. Welcome to the party. It's BYOB just to let you know. Guess what your child can do? Take out loans and get a job while in college. Welcome to your only option. I wouldn't pick a very expensive college if I were you. Settle for a couple of year at the local community college and then transfer to a four year institution for the final two years. Oh, and if you are counting on any scholarships for academic excellence or athletics, good luck with that. They are few and far between. All you really have left to do now is accept the state of higher education and know that it will only get worse as state funding goes away completely and quality declines and cost go through the roof. Welcome to what use to be the best education system in the world and now is in decline thanks to all those people that complain about taxes, government, and attack teachers. You win! Savor your victory.

 

When you hear someone on the Left tell someone on the Right that the Right-wing supports policies that undermine their own interests and of course the people on the Left's interests right along with them, this education crisis is just one clear example of what the people on the Left have been telling you.

 

Trust me...I'm not against equal opportunity when it comes to education...quite the contrary, I'm all for it! I'm just saying that Government subsidies do nothing to hold down costs...making it more difficult for families that don't qualify for subsidies. We'll see the same thing with healthcare eventually.

I take certification classes and their required annual CPE's (Continuing Professional Education) classes almost continuously. The IT security world is changing just that fast. There are many of these instructor led video courses that are available through certain channels for free. They are self paced, but the student still has to go to a testing center and pass the exam.

I would love to see the Government create and maintain a whole host of online, self-paced video classes for anyone/everyone. There could also be assistance for computers and internet service for those that need it. Students that invest the time to take these courses and pass are the serious students. Once they pass their first two (2) years of coursework online, then send them to a University to finish their degree...on me!

Heck, ambitious students could have the first two (2) years of college completed by the time they graduate High School. Older students, folks retraining after losing a job for instance, could knock out important resume bullets without having to pay anything or travel to a campus. Single moms without the time or transportation to attend class can do it from home...Perfect!!!

Come on, Joe...how can you argue against that?

 

What in the hell are you talking about. States have subsidized public education since land grant universities were first established. Do you have any actually knowledge about public education? When I was at the U of M a full quarter of the state's budget went to the education system.

 

That's what I'm saying...it doesn't need to.

Are you saying we haven't made any technological advances since the time of Land Grant Universities? There are plenty of mechanisms to increase spending, but very few "to get the Genie back into the bottle".

 

When faced between getting a student loan and the street, I chose the street. Of course a theater degree is only worth pesos on the dollar and at the time I knew that. I once advised a Yale MFA to sue the University, he did great meetings but not much else. It seems to me that people are being charged a premium for a substandard product. I had a long conversation with a director I worked with about the level of education. She taught at major universities and had quit teaching in the early 70's. She simply explained that there "was no one left to teach. You could see it in the declining SAT scores.." She had an immense amount of knowledge in her field and working on projects with her was an education in it's self. A real education is priceless, a degree lacking it is worthless.

 

My niece graduated the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Education. She moved to San Antonio, TX and got a job as an elementary school teacher. She quite after six (6) months and is now in Pharmacy school.

The most important things you can learn in school (imho) are...how to learn, how to budget time, how to research, and how to write.

 

Are now changing the subject a 3rd time? This is one subject that you should just sit back and listen to others talk about. You have no real knowledge.

 

Don't forget the lost art of critical thinking. Many people these days ask you how you feel about something, not what you think about something. Many folks hear an opinion, register an emotional response, and buy into the BS no mater how ridiculous and absurd. That does explain a lot.

 

Texas has actually tried to outlaw the teaching of critical thinking. And I guarantee you that it wasn't Democrats pushing that law.

Texas GOP rejects ‘critical thinking’ skills. Really.

In the you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff department, here’s what the Republican Party of Texas wrote into its 2012 platform as part of the section on education:

Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.


Yes, you read that right. The party opposes the teaching of “higher order thinking skills” because it believes the purpose is to challenge a student’s “fixed beliefs” and undermine “parental authority.”

It opposes, among other things, early childhood education, sex education, and multicultural education, but supports “school subjects with emphasis on the Judeo-Christian principles upon which America was founded.”

 

Nope...same topic...hearkens back to Post #10. You can reduce huge student loan programs and student debt if you make better use of technology. Pretty much hits the OP spot on.

 

Technology? How? Explain.

 

Little Joe, perhaps you're not the best one qualified to make a non-judgmental observation since you make money off the backs of people who take out student loans.

If you were to look at the situation objectively however, you might understand the frustration that taxpayers feel about pumping heaps of money upon more heaps of money into a system churning out so-called "educated" people who can't do much more for society than provide paperwork to other people seeking student loans.