4 ms·

> At least for me, it's not that reading bores me - there just isn't enough time and benefit to it, especially for novels and literature. Literary books aren't

> At least for me, it's not that reading bores me - there just isn't enough time and benefit to it, especially for novels and literature. Literary books aren't going in my CV, nor providing any insight into how to write better code. When 1200 people compete for 1 open internship position, can I really afford to waste my time like this? The disconnect here is that your professors are assigning you work like this because the purpose of a university education is to broaden your horizons, challenge you, and force you to think about _how to think._ The fact that you're treating it like trade school is your problem, not the university's. > I distinctly remember being penalized for any insight that didn't fit marking criteria back in high school english lit. Good for you. High school writing has nothing to do with university-level papers. > Well, most lectures just aren't very helpful. They move slower than if we just read the docs. Some lecturers are also just incompetent with barely any understanding of what they're teaching in the first place... Your issue, again, is that you're arrogantly assuming you don't have anything to learn from things you personally haven't prioritized. A major role of a university education is to beat that idea out of you by showing you how wrong you are. Pity it isn't sticking. > ...though this probably wouldn't be as big of a problem in better universities like Ivy Leagues where the author works What the actual fuck, dude? Ivy League? Right in the second paragraph: "I teach at a regional public university in the US." I went into this article kind of annoyed at the stereotyping of "these kids today," but way to go reinforcing the article's points. Damn.

PhunkyPhil 2y ago
> The fact that you're treating it like trade school is your problem, not the university's. When (for many people) going to college almost necessarily means accruing 5-figure to 6-figure debt at the infancy of their careers, they sure as shit better have some sort of marketable skill to justify and remedy that debt coming out of it. I understand the sentiment of higher education being useful for broadening one's horizons, challenging you, teaching you how to think etc; but you should be arguing in the _positive_ for these things to be available to everyone without a paywall.
- sarchertech 2y ago
  Federal loans are enough to pay for a state school (especially if you do your general education at a community college). Income based repayment means you’ll never pay more than 10% of your discretionary income for 20 years (income above 1.5x the poverty level for your family size). If you never make more than 1.5x the poverty level, you’ll never pay back a dime. College is financially attainable for just about anyone.
  - scarface_74 2y ago
    https://www.newsweek.com/student-loan-repayment-income-driven-donald-trump-layoffs-2047291 https://www.newsweek.com/student-loan-repayment-income-drive... > The Trump administration has gotten rid of applications for income-driven repayment plans from the federal aid website. The change occurs as the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked income-driven repayment plans in its February ruling. That means former President Joe Biden's SAVE plans and PSLF options are no longer available.
    - sarchertech 2y ago
      The numbers I quoted are still valid. What changed primarily is that it went back to 20 years. Up from 10. “ Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) reopened the online income-driven repayment (IDR) plan and loan consolidation applications for borrowers. The application was temporarily paused to comply with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals injunction issued last month, which directed the Department to cease implementation of the Biden Administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and parts of other IDR plans. Because the online application incorporated provisions subject to the injunction, it was necessary to revise the form, making it unavailable to borrowers in the interim. Paper loan consolidation applications were available to borrowers during that time.” http://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-opens-revised-income-driven-repayment-plan-and-loan-consolidation-applications-borrowers http://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-...
  - PhunkyPhil 2y ago
    > Income based repayment means you’ll never pay more than 10% of your discretionary income for 20 years So a 10% hit to your income for at least 20 years isn't significant? What percentage of someone's student debt works under income based repayment? > If you never make more than 1.5x the poverty level, you’ll never pay back a dime. So... your suggestion is to live just above poverty so you won't have to pay student loans? > Federal loans are enough to pay for a state school (especially if you do your general education at a community college) Sure, there exists ways to go about getting a degree which doesn't _have_ to have a massive financial burden for decades, but what percentage of degree holders (Or, those who have student loans) took this path? Is this a pragmatically fair expectation for 17/18 year olds to make? How do you resolve the "while the total average balance (including private loan debt) may be as high as $41,618"[0] [0]: https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics#:~:text=The%20average%20federal%20student%20loan,default%20as%20of%202024%20Q1. https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics#:~:te...
paulpauper 2y ago
The disconnect here is that your professors are assigning you work like this because the purpose of a university education is to broaden your horizons, challenge you, and force you to think about _how to think._ this would be fine if it didn't cost as much as a new car and my career did not depend on it. I can broaden my horizons for free at library

PhunkyPhil 2y ago

> The fact that you're treating it like trade school is your problem, not the university's. When (for many people) going to college almost necessarily means accruing 5-figure to 6-figure debt at the infancy of their careers, they sure as shit better have some sort of marketable skill to justify and remedy that debt coming out of it. I understand the sentiment of higher education being useful for broadening one's horizons, challenging you, teaching you how to think etc; but you should be arguing in the _positive_ for these things to be available to everyone without a paywall.

sarchertech 2y ago
Federal loans are enough to pay for a state school (especially if you do your general education at a community college). Income based repayment means you’ll never pay more than 10% of your discretionary income for 20 years (income above 1.5x the poverty level for your family size). If you never make more than 1.5x the poverty level, you’ll never pay back a dime. College is financially attainable for just about anyone.
- scarface_74 2y ago
  https://www.newsweek.com/student-loan-repayment-income-driven-donald-trump-layoffs-2047291 https://www.newsweek.com/student-loan-repayment-income-drive... > The Trump administration has gotten rid of applications for income-driven repayment plans from the federal aid website. The change occurs as the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked income-driven repayment plans in its February ruling. That means former President Joe Biden's SAVE plans and PSLF options are no longer available.
  - sarchertech 2y ago
    The numbers I quoted are still valid. What changed primarily is that it went back to 20 years. Up from 10. “ Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) reopened the online income-driven repayment (IDR) plan and loan consolidation applications for borrowers. The application was temporarily paused to comply with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals injunction issued last month, which directed the Department to cease implementation of the Biden Administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and parts of other IDR plans. Because the online application incorporated provisions subject to the injunction, it was necessary to revise the form, making it unavailable to borrowers in the interim. Paper loan consolidation applications were available to borrowers during that time.” http://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-opens-revised-income-driven-repayment-plan-and-loan-consolidation-applications-borrowers http://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-...
- PhunkyPhil 2y ago
  > Income based repayment means you’ll never pay more than 10% of your discretionary income for 20 years So a 10% hit to your income for at least 20 years isn't significant? What percentage of someone's student debt works under income based repayment? > If you never make more than 1.5x the poverty level, you’ll never pay back a dime. So... your suggestion is to live just above poverty so you won't have to pay student loans? > Federal loans are enough to pay for a state school (especially if you do your general education at a community college) Sure, there exists ways to go about getting a degree which doesn't _have_ to have a massive financial burden for decades, but what percentage of degree holders (Or, those who have student loans) took this path? Is this a pragmatically fair expectation for 17/18 year olds to make? How do you resolve the "while the total average balance (including private loan debt) may be as high as $41,618"[0] [0]: https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics#:~:text=The%20average%20federal%20student%20loan,default%20as%20of%202024%20Q1. https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics#:~:te...

paulpauper 2y ago

The disconnect here is that your professors are assigning you work like this because the purpose of a university education is to broaden your horizons, challenge you, and force you to think about _how to think._ this would be fine if it didn't cost as much as a new car and my career did not depend on it. I can broaden my horizons for free at library