"Robbing Joe College to Pay Sallie Mae": Anya Kamanetz has an op-ed in the New York Times today about our "broken" higher education funding system.
Nice job, Anya.
THE higher education financing system in this country, like the health care system, is broken. In both cases, costs spiral out of control while millions of people, especially the poor, are not served. And in both cases, a few corporations are making hefty profits.
From the 1950's to the 1970's, college attendance grew along with federal student grant aid. Then, as tuition mushroomed and loans replaced grants, educational attainment stagnated. Today, those lucky enough to graduate from college end up with an average of $17,600 in loans, a burden that shapes decisions like buying a house or having children.
But most young people are not so lucky - half of those who start college do not graduate at all, in part because of the financial burden of staying in school. As a result, Americans aged 25 to 34 are less educated than 45- to 54-year-olds - and more to the point, less educated on average than the citizens of several other industrialized nations.
Nice job, Anya.
posted by Hans Riemer at 2:37 PM
3 Comments:
And just like our health care system its the government's involvement in the first place that caused the crisis. There is no fair market value for college when the government is willing to hand out money to cover the costs higher education wants to charge.
It is not the Government's role to provide for people getting advanced degrees. Has anyone in this country actually thought about saving money or working through college and paying your own way? More Govt. is not the answer to every issue the US has today (Probably closer to the cause).
I agree and I address this topic in a little more detail in other posts.
Post a Comment
<< Home