One more thought on Occupy Protests

[leora]

I was thinking about these protests, and I was thinking about how it doesn't quite surprise me, because it seems so in-character for the younger generation. There are various reasons, certainly as this article alludes to, you're going to get a reaction if you screw over a whole lot of well-educated people. But this also seems like exactly the sort

Comments

Look to the colleges too

[beth_leonard]

A friend pointed me at this article which includes, "Take a look at We Are the 99 Percent - a website on which protest sympathizers share their tales of economic hardship. Very few of them mention banks, or even bank bailouts. The vast majority of them, however, do mention college debt."
and
"We often hear politicians lament the rising cost of education, and see programs intended to help make college more affordable (usually in the form of loans or scholarships). But why so much emphasis on coupons rather than on the underlying product price? Particularly when that product is produced by tax-exempt entities that, in many cases, earn additional taxpayer subsidies in the form of research matching grants? I'm not necessarily advocating for price controls, but could we at least let some rhetorical pressure?"

The college system and the FAFSA encourages colleges to compete on price -- the higher the better! Wall street has done a share of the evils, but one of the reasons people of this younger generation are so depressed and in so much debt doesn't have a thing to do with the Wall Street they rage against, it has to do with the colleges that educated them.

Every chance I get, when the Alumni office comes knocking on my door asking for more money, I tell them I don't want another new building on campus, or a better rec center, I want lower tuition for all students. The debt load is out of control, and college is not the right answer for many of our nations students.

--Beth

Re: Look to the colleges too

[leora]

*nods* I've read a few articles mentioning problems with education, about how the price has substantially increased. And I think part of the problem is also that a lot of jobs will outright list you need a college degree to be considered, even in jobs where I really don't think you need a college degree to be qualified. Often having a degree in anything, even something totally unrelated to the job, will get you a chance at a job where no degree will not. The job market requiring degrees unnecessarily makes it important for a lot of people to get a college education, even if it otherwise wouldn't be the best option for them. And it also means people end up stuck going to college, getting into debt, and then the job options are still hard - it's just often even worse without that.

College used to be an extra step that wasn't expected of everyone. Now not having it makes life really difficult, but having it doesn't ensure you a job. Since it's expensive, it means most people have to go into debt, but are inherently taking a gamble about whether or not it will pay off. That's a terrible set-up for a young person. And these are generally young people with no real world experience yet. College age is when you start learning about living on your own and making choices for your own life, and you're already getting into debt in ways that may or may not have any real chance of paying off. And it's not like most kids have access to good career counselors or advice when they are making these decisions. Plus, some of that advice is out of date - like what I was told before I started college. Sure, it used to be true that you could major in anything and get a good job, but that isn't true for my generation. But folks of an older generation told me that, because it was true when they went to school.