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This is insulting. What choice do you think these kids have? A university degree is the only gateway to social mobility available to most young people in the Un

This is insulting. What choice do you think these kids have? A university degree is the only gateway to social mobility available to most young people in the United States, and at current prices, most of them can't actually afford it. What do you expect the kids to do? "Gee, I guess I'll just have to spend the rest of my life in the service industry, making other people rich." Give me a break. Of course they're going to take on the loans, and of course they're not going to pay them back. This is even more predictable when you realize that plenty of good careers requiring college degrees also don't pay enough to cover basic expenses and make loan payments at the same time. Blaming the victim for a system that is too big for them to do anything about is the wrong way to look at this. The education system is broken, and I don't blame anybody who simply blows off their creditors in the meantime.

coryrc 11y ago
They have the choice to get a degree that actually makes money, not <insert anything> Studies or Art History.
- brandonmenc 11y ago
  Being indoctrinated with, "it doesn't matter what the degree is in, just that you have one," absolves them of at least some of the responsibility.
  - awinder 11y ago
    That, as well as a highly linked issue right now that people at the end of their careers are still hanging in the workforce because they can't afford to retire. I think normally if you didn't have 2008, that adage about "just get a degree" might have still rung true. It's not like kids without degrees are making out like bandits in the job market -- it's just that outside of a few lucky / strategic fields, the jobs aren't there. Which is also why blaming kids sucks for them, because theyre about the least culpable members of society for the macroeconomic conditions that landed them in this predicament.
Camillo 11y ago
Social mobility means that people who have talent and work hard can get to a higher class even if they were born in a lower class. It cannot possibly mean that the entire population is going to become college professors, while nobody does service jobs any more.
- beatpanda 11y ago
  Social mobility should mean that, but doesn't in practice. Most job opportunities involving any kind of "knowledge work", or really most jobs that pay better than subsitence income, that don't formally require college degrees, still have them as a job requirement. Most people aren't goint to college because they want to be professors, they're going because they want to be able to get their foot in the door at firms that require at least a bachelor's degree.
- thatcat 11y ago
  University professors usually have a phd, no one is suggesting everyone get a phd, yet. Does Saas count as a service job?

coryrc 11y ago

They have the choice to get a degree that actually makes money, not <insert anything> Studies or Art History.

brandonmenc 11y ago
Being indoctrinated with, "it doesn't matter what the degree is in, just that you have one," absolves them of at least some of the responsibility.
- awinder 11y ago
  That, as well as a highly linked issue right now that people at the end of their careers are still hanging in the workforce because they can't afford to retire. I think normally if you didn't have 2008, that adage about "just get a degree" might have still rung true. It's not like kids without degrees are making out like bandits in the job market -- it's just that outside of a few lucky / strategic fields, the jobs aren't there. Which is also why blaming kids sucks for them, because theyre about the least culpable members of society for the macroeconomic conditions that landed them in this predicament.

Camillo 11y ago

Social mobility means that people who have talent and work hard can get to a higher class even if they were born in a lower class. It cannot possibly mean that the entire population is going to become college professors, while nobody does service jobs any more.

beatpanda 11y ago
Social mobility should mean that, but doesn't in practice. Most job opportunities involving any kind of "knowledge work", or really most jobs that pay better than subsitence income, that don't formally require college degrees, still have them as a job requirement. Most people aren't goint to college because they want to be professors, they're going because they want to be able to get their foot in the door at firms that require at least a bachelor's degree.
thatcat 11y ago
University professors usually have a phd, no one is suggesting everyone get a phd, yet. Does Saas count as a service job?