http://finance.yahoo.com/college-ed...ver-student-debt?mod=edu-continuing_education

So this girl gets a promise in writing from her father who is divorced from her mother that he will pay her college tuition and he bails on the promise.His daughter decides to take him to court and wins.(Must be a realy tight knit family) But the article goes on to describe the woes of college grads who are in the hole for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for tuition and student loans who were led to believe that the jobs they would get would be good enough to pay off the loans and it isnt working out that way.The article begs this question...

Have our colleges taken a page from the credit card companies and morgage brokers play books and offered people promises of wealth and prosperity while at the same time effectively enslaving them into paying ever rising prices just to line thier own pockets? We have all seen credit card companies with thier offers of affordable credit to people who cant reasonably afford credit at all.And our economy is currently staggering like a gut shot deer as a result of people getting realy messed up morgages that they could never realy afford to pay.Are our colleges doing the same thing? What should be done to correct the problem? After all, education is the backbone of a succesful scociety...isnt it?

 

I have thought for years that in many ways the system there is set up to rip people off. We are brainwashed with this idea that the secret to success is more and more formal education, whether it has any practical application or not.

I personally feel that at 18 or 19, most people don't have a fucking clue what they want to do with their life and will change their minds three or four times before they figure it out, if they even do. Jumping straight from high school into university is just a way for most kids to avoid the real world for a few more years.

Universities know that and prey on that. Their main focus isn't education, it is making money.

I would support a system where after graduation, kids where required to spend a few years doing service of some kind, doesn't necessarily have to be military. Get out in the world, learn some skill, learn something about yourself. Then, go get that education if you want it. Or even better, go learn a trade, will probably pay off faster.

 

I don't think major universities perpetrate this sort or fraud as a rule. The ones I worry about are the degree mills that are cropping up in strip malls and office buildings. They have essentially no admission requirements, their ads promise a bright future in high-paying jobs, and they're more than willing to loan you money (and obtain government loans) to pay exorbitant tuition costs. Then they turn you lose on the world, buried in a mountain of debt, and the job prospects turn out to be a pipe-dream.

 

I don't disagree with your idea of public service...but studies do clearly show that a college degree DOES substantially increase your earning potential. What I object to is the idea that EVERYONE should go to college, and that a college education will guarantee you a living. I think it's a big mistake for kids and their families to go that deep into debt on the promise that they'll earn it all back in a few years.

 

university/college is overrated

 

I'm sure a lot of that is also because the average person that is ambitious enough and smart enough to pursue a degree is worth more in the job market even if they didn't have a degree.

I wasn't able to go to college bc of some unfortunate happenings. I was a 4.0 student with high act scores and my first job out of highschool at 18 paid full benefits including retirement, dental, health, housing and vehicle plus I made more than the national average for an mba grad which is what I wanted to get.

I would consider my grades and work ethic to be similiar to that of the average college graduate. Even know as a landscaping/underground utilities contractor I make more money than any of my classmates that have degrees ever will.

I think too many people get brain washed that you have to have a degree to make a good living like you say. In my opinion you only have to be smart and hardworking, it just so happens that most of those people go and get degrees.

 

Apprentice schools to learn trades such as machinist, millwright, electrical, hvac, drafting/design etc. are viable options for high demand, good paying jobs and you can work and make a living at the trade as you become certified. No loans, no debt. I have family and friends who got trade certification after getting college degrees and work the trade because it pays better than the jobs the degrees provided. One advantage a college grad does have, an employer would rather integrate them into the company at far less pay than the long-time employee that becomes expendable because of his pay. World is a changing and not for the better.

 

I'm LITERALLY going through the same thing now!

I'm starting my first year of college next year..

My sophomore year in high school (2007) my dad cried the blues telling my mother he can no longer afford child support but he'll help pay for college..

Here in the U.S. you are legally obliged to pay until the child is 21 (and or out of undergrade school.)

My air-head-of-a-mother agreed to this. Why, might you ask? The answer being, my paternal grandparents gave me a trust fund, but in their will it stated, whatever goes to my father must be spit in half and my portion go into a trust fund, for my aunt (his sister) to be the executor of.
-A back track- years ago my father took his sister to court for multiple of things and he won, one things he won was the privilege of becoming an executor to the trust fund.
By "paying for college" this my father feels that its A.) his money - (little does he know I dug deep and they had no original intention in even giving him the inheritance) B.)That he's going pay for college with "his" money a.k.a. my gift, which I cannot use until 25.

Now that I'm going to college my father as literally made every excuse that I've done something "wrong" and don't deserve to go to a 4 year college, but a 2 community college.

When telling my mother she needs to take him back to court, she doesn't feel like going through the effort. Putting her head down and saying "well you're going to get that trust fund anyways..." ( ) How dare she... Anyways.. I've tried myself, reporting him, etc, but they always call back saying my mother must do it. Since there was originally some court file.

Now I'm going to a private NYC fashion school and I've got to pay the bills. Now before you might say
"Oh you've got a trust fund you brat.." Its in stocks, and as you know the U.S. economy STINKS! I looked on my taxes this year and noticed I had a lost of about $3,000. So he's failing to complete his duties as an executor in making sure the trust grows.

I want to take his sorry fucking ass to court so bad, but I have not a dime to take him to court. If anyone knows any info about this, PLEASE let me know!

 

The problem isn't the college they aren't the one dishing out the loans that now falls on banks, the government(whom has recently taken over a majority of the loans for college in the United States) and private lenders. It is just another case of the rich making them selves richer with no care for the underdog except as their personal "slave".

90% or round abouts of people in the job market right now are no better than paid slaves and no one is willing to quit cause there is nothing out there to replace the job they are currently in, and forget about the unemployed, the chances of finding a new job right now are astronomical 10-15 years ago you were going up against 10 maybe 15 applicants roughly for the same job. now? its more like 2-3 hundred and thats in a smaller town.

Then there is the virtual zero help the government is willing to give you, let alone willing to take the necessary steps to bring this country out of the current recession. In the times we live in where we are spending 1 Billion USD to incarcerate marijuana users every year instead of making it legal, taxing it and governing it like we do alcohol and making a profit let alone getting us out of debt and the recession. The same can be said for prostitution, These are but two avenues we could take to turn this country around and not only get the nation out of debt but help the nations populous, but are the politicians willing? No instead they are lining their own pockets and doing NOTHING for the country it self.

There is only one politician that is working for the CITIZENS of the U.S and that is the current governor of Nevada, Gary Johnson. After recently enacting the anti illegal immigration bill he has come under a lot of fire and scrutiny, but what he IS doing is fighting for the citizens and working for them. He has recently become involved with the Our America Initiative and has spoken on several of the vital issues facing this country right now.

If you are an American or even interested in what is going on over here I highly suggest taking a look at what he has to say, I do believe that he is on the right track and I also believe that he should consider running for the Presidency.

http://ouramericainitiative.com/

 

I have always been in favor of Heinlein's government shown in the book "Starship Troopers" It does not require civil service but civil service grants you a few rights, rights that right now we take for granted. First and foremost is Citizenship.

Quoting the Starship Troopers entry on Wikipedia

Politics
Starship Troopers is a political essay as well as a novel. Large portions of the book take place in classrooms, with Rico and other characters engaged in debates with their History and Moral Philosophy teachers, who are often thought to be speaking in Heinlein's voice. The overall theme of the book is that social responsibility requires being prepared to make individual sacrifice. Heinlein's Terran Federation is a limited democracy with aspects of a meritocracy based on willingness to sacrifice in the common interest. Suffrage belongs only to those willing to serve their society by two years of volunteer Federal Service — "the franchise is today limited to discharged veterans", (ch. XII), instead of anyone "...who is 18 years old and has a body temperature near 37 °C" The Federation is required to find a place for anyone who desires to serve, regardless of his skill or aptitude (this also includes dangerous non-military work such as serving as experimental medical test subjects).

There is an explicitly-made contrast to the democracies of the 20th century, which according to the novel, collapsed because "people had been led to believe that they could simply vote for whatever they wanted... and get it, without toil, without sweat, without tears." Indeed, Colonel Dubois criticizes as unrealistic the famous U.S. Declaration of Independence line concerning "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". No one can stop anyone from pursuing happiness, but life and liberty are said to exist only if they are deliberately sought and paid for.

Starship Troopers is also widely-regarded as a vehicle for Heinlein's anti-communist views, best summed up by Rico's (and his Federation's) belief that "correct morals arise from knowing what man is—not what do-gooders and well-meaning old Aunt Nellies would like him to be." Characters attack Karl Marx (a "pompous fraud"), the labor theory of value ("All the work one cares to add will not turn a mud pie into an apple tart..."),and Plato's The Republic ("ant-like communism" and "weird in the extreme").


I believe this should be extended to a PAID college degree, i.e. the government pays for your entire college career no ifs, ands, or buts.

 

People like this makes me sick, daughter suing own father is just wrong.

 

Just picking up where her mother left off in the divorce I guess.

 

In the Uk student loans institutions are state run, they're still raping people on loan repayments though, It's all financial institutions are made to make money therefore any loans even for those who need them most are going to fuck you badly. A quote from zeitgeist although I think It originated with Lincoln (feel free to correct me) "In a Capitalist Economy a problem will only be solved if it can create profits"

 

Unlike most people on this thread, I like education. In fact, I 'm going back to school on a part time basis now. My employer pays for it and they benefit from it as well. I'm always learning new stuff that I wouldn't be aware of if it wasn't for my continued pursuit of education throughout my career.

On the other hand, higher education is not for everyone. Our society needs to be balanced with all kinds of people with various skills, not just college graduate eggheads like me. College can help you get a good job, but, there is no guarantee.

Unfortunately, I see a trend that is steering clear of higher education in the USA. Meanwhile, poorer countries like India and China have embraced it to their bosom. India is opening up research centers while the USA is closing them. We may see the USA fall well behind the rest of the world and perhaps one day become a a third world country if this keeps up!

 

Great replies gang I guess where my mind goes on this is...the education system has been raising tuition rates for the last couple decades at rates significantly higher than inflationary rates. While at the same time student loans have been incresingly growing as a business opportunity for banks and private lenders.Much the same thing was happening in the morgage sector but education is alittle harder to play as fast and loose with as the home morgage market. My thought is that private and public universities, colleges and tech schools have been taking advantage of the finacial system and thier ability to baisicly charge whatever they want for tuition knowing full well that huge numbers of people simply wont forgo education despite the price.Sort of the same way insurance companies have been raping the market because no matter what you might want, you must have insurance if you expect to protect your hard earned assets. Education is like an insurance policy that entitles you to more consideration in the job market for a great many positions.I have had the opportunity to see the results of college grads competing against non college grads and the people who didnt get a higher education just plain dont stand a chance even in jobs that dont require higher education.

My belief that they are taking advantage stems mostly from listening to the news and regularly hearing stories about various high level college and university directors and deans and whatnot getting huge pay raises and college coaches recieveing saleries that vastly excede the saleries of college prefessors. Alot of colleges and universities have also been going on rather extravagant spending sprees lately for new buildings and programs that they previously either couldnt afford or would spend far less on and simply not buys as much stuff. they seem to be doing quite well as of late and that money isnt coming from grants and donors.

 

what a skank

 

Sigh.

I do get a kick out of the replies of the men on this thread.

 

I wanted to mention something similar in my earlier posting. It isn't as bad in Canada, but the costs of going to university are completely out of whack. They are operating like for profit businesses instead of institutions of higher learning.

Just another example of the corporate mentality that seems to pervade our North American culture.

 

Universities seem to be focusing more on the business of churning out diplomas for profit than actualy developing a well balanced and well educated person whos contributions to scociety will stand out and bring benefit to everyone.I suspect that greed has taken over and corperate culture is running amok even in the institutions that were supposed to create people who are both capable and benevolent.

 

When I started college in 2001, my tuition was 175 a credit hour. In 2006, it was 550.