College degrees are costing more and no longer insure a rich & prosperous life.
The cost is going up largely due to the availability of of student loan money.
A recommendation from the Washington Examiner …
Student loans, if they are to continue, should be made dischargeable in bankruptcy after five years — but with the school that received the money on the hook for all or part of the unpaid balance.
Up until now, the loan guarantees have meant that colleges, like the writers of subprime mortgages a few years ago, got their money up front, with any problems in payment falling on someone else.
Make defaults expensive to colleges, and they’ll become much more careful about how much they lend and what kinds of programs they offer.
The article also reps for non-college education.
As the Wall Street Journal has noted, skilled trades are doing quite well. For the past several decades,
America’s enthusiasm for college has led to a lack of enthusiasm for vocational education.
We need people who can make things, and it’s harder to outsource a plumbing or welding job to somebody in Bangalore.
Of course, the thing about skilled trades is that they require skill.Even with training, not everyone makes a good welder or machinist.
Hmmm.
Tags: Higher education, student loans
December 12, 2011 at 9:13 am |
Is there any reasearch about pricing in a “split” market like higher education? I get the feeling that prices rise with the income of the wealthiest and the government is forced to make loans to bridge the gulf. This type of “targeted infltion” seems to be another result of our income disparity.