One of the worst parts of graduating college, I mean college in general, is paying for college. Since we are an instant gratification society, we no longer save for college. Most of us count on the government to pay college for us. This has created a miserable reality for students while empowering Democrats who often place the fear of not receiving these benefits as a reason to vote Democratic.
Many students don’t realize that student loans have cost them more to go to college. Students not only receive interest charges to borrow the money, schools have raised tuition knowing there is more money out there for students to get their hands on. There is a clear correlation between increases in student loan amounts and increases in tuition fees. Obviously the schools can justify part of it, since they have to hire staff members to process the required government paperwork, but schools clearly understand they can raise tuition as the government increases the amount a student can borrow.
When I took out my first student loans in the early 1990s, I borrowed my limit of about $3500 a year. My tuition for a 12-hour semester was about $1000. When I returned to school, tired of O’Hare, flying, Homeland Security, and all the post 9.11hassles of my job, my tuition had increased at the same pace that my student loan allowances had increased. I don’t think this was coincidental.
Now, when I look at my student loan payments each month, I wonder how much less my education would have cost had I not done in the American way—you know, go in debt and worry about it tomorrow. The sad part is that is the attitude of American entitlement. As you know, Governor Jay Nixon upset me when he said spend now and pass it on to Missouri’s children and grandchildren. That’s irresponsible, and so is taking out tens of thousands of dollars on student loans. You are not guaranteed a diploma, you might make a little more money over not having a diploma, and the costs of your student loans probably will put you in a worse situation than alternative methods to gain experience. When you subtract what my student loans cost me every month, I am not that much further ahead than the average person without a degree. (By the way, I have over ten years of experience in the computer industry.) I know doctors who have taken on six figures of student loan debt who watch a larger portion of their income reduced by student loan debt. This is not to say there isn’t value in a college education. I appreciate my ability to critically think, the vastness of the knowledge I gained, and the increase in communication skills I gained in college.
We hear since the banks are in such shambles, that a student loan crisis is coming. I honestly think this would be the best thing to happen to the American education system. First off, it would make parents and children save for their futures. Many kids have no real investment made in college when they first start school and they never see money change hands. They fill out FAFSA forms, a couple weeks later get an award letter, sign a promissory note, and without any pain they are in college. That is if you don’t count the hangover pain from the partying too much since they haven’t invested any of their own effort in paying the bill yet.
If they repealed the student loan program, schools would have to become more competitive. Education levels would rise and tuition would surely decrease since colleges wouldn’t be dependent on the guaranteed $7,500, $12,500, and $20,500 caps (undergrad, grad, professional degree loan limits). Colleges know how much the federal government guarantees, and they all have programs to get students the money they need, even if tuition is higher than the loan. Colleges have become good used car salesmen.
I learned this when I went to Westwood College of Technology in Woodridge, Illinois. I enrolled in their network specialist program. I sent in my transcripts from Missouri State. They enrolled me in their English class and another general education class. I complained that I excelled in these classes, which my transcript showed. After an hour of fierce negotiation, they agreed to give me credit for the classes. Even with my transcript, it was about the money. It was an expensive college, and I didn’t need to be out the extra money.
As I went through the computer classes they assigned, I started to realize that I knew as much if not more than the instructor. On several occasions students asked questions the instructor couldn’t answer. There were three guys in the class the other students took their questions too. I was one of them. Once again, I had to examine the value of their product compared with the cost of tuition. I quickly found myself in a familiar office complaining that I am paying to teach the class for the instructor. I left the college that night. When I returned the next day, I was pulled out of the classroom, and told they felt it best if I looked for other outlets to achieve my educational goals.
This school was excellent when they were selling the program. They were even better getting all the financial aid I needed, and trust me, my federal student aid didn’t cover it all. That’s as good as it got. I feel the federal student aid and loan program has cost students quality, competitive rates, and a decade-plus long debt that removes the one benefit that many of us go to school for—a higher-paying job. You may get the higher-paying job, but the student loans offset the higher pay.
