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They see through it. They just know they have no other option. Educators raise rates because they can, students pay the rates because they have to. It's the sam

They see through it. They just know they have no other option. Educators raise rates because they can, students pay the rates because they have to. It's the same problem we have in healthcare. Until employers start scrutinizing education in terms other than "No degree? No thanks.", then we will continue to have this problem, in my opinion.

JumpCrisscross 10y ago
> They see through it. They just know they have no other option. To add to this, administrators know if they don't hire extensively they are likely to be replaced by someone who will. There is no control mechanism. Giving students a small periodic vote in respect of their top administration would go a long way towards ameliorating such corruption. The "Dictator's Handbook" covers such topics https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Politics/dp/1610391845 https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Po...
aggie 10y ago
Many students pay way more than they have to. I graduated from a top-10 public school (in-state) after transferring from community college and my total bill was about $35k. That's not nothing, but also not a ball-and-chain six-figure mark that some people accrue. There are better options than a lot of people have taken. To me the solution has to involve better financial and career counseling for high school graduates.
- visarga 10y ago
  Natural selection at work. Some make the wrong choice to take too much debt.
  - hueving 10y ago
    >Natural selection at work. Some make the wrong choice to take too much debt. That will backfire when enough people have made the wrong choice that the decide to vote someone in office who promises to wipe out the debt.
  - giardini 10y ago
    Precisely! Visarga is bold enough to speak the obvious truth! Problem is many, if not most, incoming students are unable to understand the financial ramifications of student loans. This does not bode well for their futures, especially in technical fields. David Letterman once joked that "The lotto is a tax you pay for not paying attention in math class." One might say the same about college student loans.
    - matwood 10y ago
      As an aside, your lotto comment made me think of expected value (EV) and poker. At some point the pot of a lotto can become large enough where the EV demands you buy a ticket. Taxes I think make this number almost impossible to reach though.
quonn 10y ago
> Until employers start scrutinizing education in terms other than "No degree? No thanks.", then we will continue to have this problem, in my opinion. Requiring a degree is fine. Just waive state university tuition. In Germany education is free, for example.

JumpCrisscross 10y ago

> They see through it. They just know they have no other option. To add to this, administrators know if they don't hire extensively they are likely to be replaced by someone who will. There is no control mechanism. Giving students a small periodic vote in respect of their top administration would go a long way towards ameliorating such corruption. The "Dictator's Handbook" covers such topics https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Politics/dp/1610391845 https://www.amazon.com/Dictators-Handbook-Behavior-Almost-Po...

aggie 10y ago

Many students pay way more than they have to. I graduated from a top-10 public school (in-state) after transferring from community college and my total bill was about $35k. That's not nothing, but also not a ball-and-chain six-figure mark that some people accrue. There are better options than a lot of people have taken. To me the solution has to involve better financial and career counseling for high school graduates.

visarga 10y ago
Natural selection at work. Some make the wrong choice to take too much debt.
- hueving 10y ago
  >Natural selection at work. Some make the wrong choice to take too much debt. That will backfire when enough people have made the wrong choice that the decide to vote someone in office who promises to wipe out the debt.
- giardini 10y ago
  Precisely! Visarga is bold enough to speak the obvious truth! Problem is many, if not most, incoming students are unable to understand the financial ramifications of student loans. This does not bode well for their futures, especially in technical fields. David Letterman once joked that "The lotto is a tax you pay for not paying attention in math class." One might say the same about college student loans.
  - matwood 10y ago
    As an aside, your lotto comment made me think of expected value (EV) and poker. At some point the pot of a lotto can become large enough where the EV demands you buy a ticket. Taxes I think make this number almost impossible to reach though.

quonn 10y ago

> Until employers start scrutinizing education in terms other than "No degree? No thanks.", then we will continue to have this problem, in my opinion. Requiring a degree is fine. Just waive state university tuition. In Germany education is free, for example.