Go Big and Go Broke

In his blog post Tuition Costs, Aaron Taylor Bonnette claims State and National government should do more in the way of helping students pay for college expenses through direct subsidy methods rather than the increasingly destructive effects of student loans.

This problem of student debt and rising tuition costs are much more of a cultural issue than a policy issue. So many people are told at a very young age that college is for everyone. In reality it's not. Studies have shown that in this day and age you are not as likely as your parents to have a well paid job after graduating with your bachelors degree. As well, because of this "even you!" attitude, many people who cannot afford college nor need it are unthinkingly pushed into the higher education system that requires a lot of money and time and does not guarantee a profit after all that investment. Alternative options are getting a low cost associate's degree and working on your own to teach yourself valuable skills, like say electrical engineering or even physical therapy training. Heck, even my hairstylist makes 50K+ a year and she has a rather inexpensive beauty school degree.

Actually, the government currently provides an amazing amount of student loan debt relief and Obama wants to continue to grow this forgiveness more so in the future. Currently, as explained in this article by Economics Professor Jefferey Dorfman, those with student loan debt not only pay very little interest compared to private loans, the government will forgive your debt after 20 years if you make a certain amount of money and partake in a "pay as you earn" program, 10 years if you work in a public service job. Again these things exacerbate the problem of encouraging people to go to college when it is not economically viable causing in increase in the need for more faculty and staff, therefore increasing prices.

Speaking from experience, I was offered an opportunity to attend the University of California at Berkeley, a rather prestigious school in my mind. I decided against it when I saw the 45,000 dollar price tag on the tuition. This caused me to seriously consider whether 45,000 dollars a year would be a valuable investment for a degree in something that may or may not pay off in the long run. I decided against it and instead chose UT where it was much cheaper and I can pay my way through college without any debt, working around 25-30 hours a week (Something I think anyone can do). Students get so wrapped up their senior year in getting into the best schools, especially private ones that cost exorbitant amounts of money when other, much cheaper options are definitely viable.

In the end, with all things political, there is an ethical base where one can look to make policy decisions. Bonnette claims "...state and national government should provide more funding to universities and provide more scholarships and grants to perspective students in order to give everyone a chance to get the education they deserve." Someone has to pay for this and that means that the State should take on either more debt or increase taxation, therefore making those who are not in college pay for those who are because they "deserve" it. We need to seriously question this idea of a right to an education and maybe then we can see that it is not in Texas' interest to increase student subsidies just as much as it's not in my interest to pay for someone else's education while I'm also paying for mine.