“in the same way that the government puts a brake on the cost of drugs by acting as the largest provider of medical insurance through Medicaid and Medicare they can put a brake on the costs of college tuition”
The rise in tuition cost is caused by government intervention. Every year they back loans to 17-20 year old students, and increase the amount they front. These loans wouldn’t be available to buy hard goods, real estate, or stocks but they will purchase a seat in the university. The terms of the loans are predatory, but voluntary with almost no forethought regarding getting out from under them. Without the influx of wide eyed government sponsored students the higher education system wouldn’t be offering doctorate degrees in “The Tao of Harry Potter”, “medieval Russian Literature”, or “Social Responsibilities of Porn” because nobody would purchase said degrees for a real world application.
I believe this got started 60 years ago in an effort to level the playing field in pursuit of equality. When the IQ test became no longer usable as a entry to the job market, a substitute had to be procured, and a college degree, in any subject became the new standard. It wasn’t immediately viewed as just any degree, but slowly morphed into the pursuit of the sheepskin, vs receiving an education.
Because academia is a leftist stronghold they have turned it into a make-work scam. Statistics on what degrees provide gainful employment and at what salary should be used to select what degrees are sanctioned for government loans. If someone wants to spend tens of thousands of dollars a year to study Harry Potter it should be on his parents’ dime, not ours. And based on the salaries that an accountant or an engineer can expect to make, the cost of the education should be no more than some reasonable part of his income to pay back. And that will determine… Read more »
I agree vanity degrees should not be financed other than personally, and practical degrees with a real world application should be the only government backed loans, if you are going to have such type financing. My issue is the rising tuition cost is fueled by the ever increasing uncle sugar money given out annually as the amount financable is increased every year. This open expense account drives up tuition cost making it damn near impossible to self finance a degree, thereby feeding into the problem. Get government out of the student loan garuntee industry, and let private financing handle that… Read more »
Well, you’re right about the government mucking up any financial arrangement they involve themselves in.