Elizabeth Warren Wants to Lower Student Loans to .75%

This might be true if higher education was only good to find a job. That isn't the case. The education of a person is worthwhile in itself whether it leads to a job or not. Having a better education makes people better people.

It is completely bogus to say there is no thought of lowering academic salaries.

 

Ted Kaczynski?

 

You must really hate being on the defensive everyday huh?

 

He was probably better at what he wanted to be because of his education. So even though finding solitary and isolated examples of something doesn't disprove a statement, this isolated example probably only illustrates the point I was making.

 

Awesome!

 

Would make sense if I was an Obama supporter. I will say that there is no doubt Obama is better at what he wants to be because of his education.

 

Disagree. Education is not an absolute good. Even in cases like the Scandinavian countries, education is an opportunity cost. If education was an absolute good and a value in and of itself, everyone should seek to pursue a PhD. But we don't.

Furthermore, and from my perspective this applies to other topics like say, minimum wage, what people who constantly talk about raising standards is that then people will inevitably attempt to raise their own standards, because there will always be a stigma with the minimum, no matter what it is. You give everyone B.A.s, more people will seek masters to distinguish themselves. You give everyone master, people will seek PhDs. People don't like to acknowledge it with talk of equality, but hierarchy exists, and will always exist, because people will want to be better than their peers. The result is chaos precisely because education is not an absolute good, and every moment a person is spent being educated is one he could have spent being a productive citizen.

 

Then we disagree. I believe learning more, increasing practice in critical thinking skills, and broadening one's understanding is a good thing whether it leads to a better job or not. I believe that's true for everyone.

I can't think of one person who'd be worse off for having those skills grow.

The point about having the minimum raised and the stigma attached might be true, but that's no reason to not raise the minimum. If everybody on the playground played basketball at a minimum level of college players that would make them better basketball players than what most of them are right now.

 

I pay plenty of taxes, dude. That's what pays for having government, infrastructure, national defence, making sure that those in need get help, you know, the purpose of having a government being to insure the safety and welfare of its citizens.

Academic salaries being lowered? You're a laugh riot, Commodore. Clearly, you have a misconception about the salaries earned by those good enough to devote their careers to academia. Tuition? I just finished paying 6 figures to put my son through an out of state university, where he's graduating this month with a double major in computer engineering and computer science. Yeah, I know something about tuition and fees. They skyrocketed when Perry and his Republican buddies had the bright idea to deregulate tuition, which was beyond stupid.

Maybe you should give some thought to these topics. You often make sense when discussing basketball subjects, but when you venture down here, the wheels come off your wagon.

 

I hear you, but all of this ignores one simple economic truth. In today's world, there are a lot of jobs out there that don't require a degree to do the job, but they now require a degree, ANY degree just as a way to cull through resumes. This being the case, a degree still increases the tax base through better access to jobs.

 

Yes, I understand that. There should be career paths that don't require a degree. Though I even people who choose those paths should still be welcome to earn a degree.

 

Deckard, I'm curious since you mentioned a 6 figure investment, what are your son's job prospects? [if you don't mind sharing]

 

Professors aren't the only ones at the university level drawing salaries. There has been a huge expansion of non-teaching staff at universities across the country, with little to no resulting improvement in educational outcomes for students. That would be a good place to start cutting costs.

 

I agree completely. I think that there is a lot of benefit to the college experience that goes beyond what you learn in class. Country music artist Granger Smith said it best in his song about his time at Texas A&M called "We Bleed Maroon"..."we learned some from books and a whole lot from living." From my college experience, I also believe this to be true.

There is a lot of value to going to college that cannot be quantified in dollars and cents. The question here is one of financing that education and an appropriate interest rate that will apportion who bears the risk of non-payment. I believe that the rate should be low. I have no problem with an interest rate that encourages financial institutions to participate in the program, but the rates that are about to be charged are excessive and will directly cause a higher rate of default.

 

hard to believe it's 2013 and people are still touting price fixing

 

While I support lowering the student loan rates (though I think the proposed rate wouldn't even cover the cost to the financial institution of servicing the loan), there is another issue involving student loans that is disconcerting.

Over the last 20 years, the max limits on student loan borrowing have increased. This increase has occurred over the same time period in which college tuition has tripled. This far outpaces the rate of inflation. I wonder to what extent the colleges have felt no impetus to contain the cost because the students can get loans to cover the increased costs. It is time to fully investigate why it has gone up so much and hold administrators accountable for operating in an efficient manner. If we do not, and the rampant, unexplained cost increases go up, the students and their families will suffer needlessly to try to pay for what used to be fairly affordable.

For example...in 1996, I graduated from Texas A&M. My full time tuition and fees for the semester was $1,500. My stepdaughter currently is a student there. Her full time tuition and fees are $4,350 per semester. My dorm was about $1,500 per semester. My stepson is at Texas Tech. His dorm is $4,000 per semester.

Wen I was at UH law, my tuition was $7,000 per year. Today, UH law school tuition is $28,000 per year. I graduated in 2000, so tuition has quadrupled in 13 years.

These increases are insane. This needs to be addressed and fast. These increases that FAR outpace inflation and cause families to struggle to pay for college. This causes more people to need student loans and cause those that need them to have to take out more loans and struggle to pay them later.

I believe that the loan rate should be somewhere between 2 to 3%. This is not excessive and encourages lenders to participate since it will cover the cost of loan servicing and origination.