Ex-wife was an english prof at a state university. They had students who came in with a 16 on their ACT, which really means they should still be in high school

Ex-wife was an english prof at a state university. They had students who came in with a 16 on their ACT, which really means they should still be in high school. They'd take remedial classes for a couple years, then most eventually filed academic bankruptcy. Finance officer was telling me how for in-state students, the student is only paying around 20% of the actual tab, and that the state picks up the rest. Then there was the story from a few days ago where some poor lady ended up owing over $100k for a < $10k debt due to fees and penalty rates. Even my own degree, in the "allegedly" hard subject computer engineering, first day of class would fill an auditorium. After midterms, class size would drop to just a handful of people. So taxpayers on the hook for subsidies, former students paying obscene finance charges on a kind of debt that is almost unshakable, and little of that culminating in valuable skills and credentials... Excluding the more selective institutions, higher ed is a racket, and the financing of it is an even bigger one.