Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dan Druff
Back when I was in college 30 years ago, public colleges were cheap. Money wasn't really an issue as long as your family was middle class or higher.
Went up rapidly in the 90s and beyond because the schools realized they could milk the state and the parents for more $. That's why I laugh at these free college proposals. What we need is cheaper college -- not giving schools a blank check signed by da gubbmint.
I graduated college in 3 years. Unlike most kids there, who wanted to stay young and irresponsible, I was in a hurry to grow up. I shouldn't have been.
100% I would change that if I did it all over again.
While true, this is not the overwhelming reason why tuition has soared. In the late 90s the government began to make a big push on getting very involved in the student loan market, offering fully guaranteed loans for 100% of student's costs. They also offered interest rates way below the market value since they after all set the interest rate. All of a sudden people that would have never considered college went because it was effectively "free" not taking into consideration they would one day have to actually pay it back. Stats estimate 40% of people who took out loans in the early 2000s will default in the next 5-10 years. The market was flooded with cash, and Universities saw an opportunity to raise prices dramatically with no push back, since the government would loan the 19 year old student the money either way. The 19 year old student was too dumb to realize anything, just increase the size of the loan and worry about it later. It was a bonanza for Professors and Athletic Departments.
The whole thing is a joke. I have two relatives that took advantage of this Sallie Mae program. One went back to school at age 23 and got a degree in Marketing to the tune of $100K. She was a bartender before college, during college and now at the age of 31, still a bartender. She now owes $100K and recently got divorced because her husband did not want to be saddled with her debt. I saw her a couple months ago at a gathering and she was constantly making fun in a sad way of her financial situation. She was still talking up her degree though saying she is just waiting for the right opportunity.
The other relative is even in worse shape. Always wanted to be a lawyer. Works during the day going to school at night to get his bachelor's degree, than it's another $100K for law school. At the pace he is going he will be in his late 30s if and when he gets his law degree.
What a fucking scheme this is.