The College Conspiracy

[(=DK=)Samonuh]

Just an interesting documentary I found a while back. Any thoughts?

[Darth Crater]

I don't have an hour to spend on this, so I am just basing this response on the summary in the description.

Yes, the system of constantly increasing tuition and loans is pretty broken. No, it's not some sort of conspiracy - just game theory and a lack of foresight.

College is not optional for a large number of technical fields. There's no other good way to learn everything needed for something like engineering or medicine, for example. The system could be a lot better, certainly, and we could stand to lose the "must have a degree to do anything" attitude, but any field that requires specialized knowledge requires specialized education. Anecdotes about "skipping college to stand out" are just that - anecdotes, not statistics.

[Mandalore]

It's a rather broken system, in terms of how its financed. Plus you have a bunch of dumb [m'kay] getting useless liberal arts degrees while graduating with sixty grand in debt. It's all a part of my pet theory that community colleges will actually be the eventual winners once the bubble crashes.

[MATTHEW'S_DAD]

It's a rather broken system, in terms of how its financed. Plus you have a bunch of dumb [m'kay] getting useless liberal arts degrees while graduating with sixty grand in debt. It's all a part of my pet theory that community colleges will actually be the eventual winners once the bubble crashes.

You are dead on with this.

[Richdog]

Didn't watch it, too busy. I just graduated with a liberal arts degree from a good university. I'm jealous of my engineering and med-student friends who immediately get hired because they have marketable skills, while I'm prepared for on-the-job-training with my lib arts degree. Yes the job market sucks, but it's all about how you sell yourself. After months of not hearing anything back, I have 3 different interviews today and 2 tomorrow. None of these place would consider me if I didn't have a 4 year degree. Yes, I feel lied to by the marketting side of the university and I forgot that it is a for-profit business (something many people forget). Of course as the percentage of people with 4 year degree increases, there's no reason why competative companies shouldn't want the most educated employees, so then they begin to demand more education (compared with 20-40 years ago when a significantly lower % of the pop. had college degrees) More about this later, I'm off to my last interview.

[Nathan_Mates]

It's a rather broken system, in terms of how its financed. Plus you have a bunch of dumb [m'kay] getting useless liberal arts degrees while graduating with sixty grand in debt. It's all a part of my pet theory that community colleges will actually be the eventual winners once the bubble crashes.

You are dead on with this.

As a former community college student, I also completely agree.

Although I don't really have that much of a problem with 4-year universities/colleges (private or public), I'm more outspoken against the current system utilized by the so-called testing/college readiness "non-profit" companies, such as College Board. I have a problem mainly with the fees charged. For example, the transcript sending company Parchment/Docufide currently charges a minimum of $3.00 USD to send an entire transcript from one school to another in less than two business days. Seems fair, right? I would say so. But on the contrary, College Board charges $15.00 USD minimum to send a measly AP test score, and that takes at most seven business days. And in most cases, such transactions occur before students even attend a college or university...

[WD-40]

It's a rather broken system, in terms of how its financed. Plus you have a bunch of dumb [m'kay] getting useless liberal arts degrees while graduating with sixty grand in debt. It's all a part of my pet theory that community colleges will actually be the eventual winners once the bubble crashes.

You are dead on with this.

Speaking of which...I have 3 girls in Community College, which in the big scheme of things provide a hellovan education, to at least get them thru the 'electives'. Some are very reputable for hard-core Bachelors degrees.

[(=DK=)Samonuh]

Do you know what I've begun to wonder? Why do parent's bother saving money for their child's education? Do they realize that the saved money will only hurt them by taking away from the financial aid offered to them? My parents didn't save a dime for me to go to college, and my university was very generous with financial aid. However, I have friends whose parents saved a sickening amount of money just for their child's education, which simple screwed them over on the FAFSA. To make a long story short, being financially irresponsible pays off when it comes to receiving grants and scholarships from private universities.

[Darth Crater]

Well, money paid from parents' savings is money that doesn't end up as loans, and it pays interest until spent as opposed to accruing interest until repaid. With the financial aid situation these days, savings end up leaving you in a better situation after college, not improving your chance of attending.

[WD-40]

Do you know what I've begun to wonder? Why do parent's bother saving money for their child's education? Do they realize that the saved money will only hurt them by taking away from the financial aid offered to them? My parents didn't save a dime for me to go to college, and my university was very generous with financial aid. However, I have friends whose parents saved a sickening amount of money just for their child's education, which simple screwed them over on the FAFSA. To make a long story short, being financially irresponsible pays off when it comes to receiving grants and scholarships from private universities.

Not true actually. I have 3 girls in college, a huge mortgage and many other expenses. To invest and save for your kids early on is a must, because I make good money, and that alone screws my kids out of a lot of scholarships. Academics alone is what they can hope for on any scholarship, and that hasnt helped even though they get 3.4 thru 4.0.