It’s the administrators that need investigated. My wife has been a professor for 17 years, and at the same school for the past 8, and makes less than 20k a year. The president of the university makes over 400k and has no background in education (she was a bank executive). Schools are run on a business model and are for profit now, not for educating. It is more important to increase enrollment now and get that first year of tuition than it is to graduate students. The result is now everyone gets accepted, and the students who have potential still drop out because the professors have to try to cater to the students who shouldn’t be there in the first place. Universities used to focus on accepting those who would last 4 years but that is not as profitable as overloading the front end. Unfortunately, government funding would not solve this problem, but perhaps exacerbate it unless the states set up a review board to fully investigate where the money went in each state funded school.
As I mentioned to my DEMOCRAT representative, as long as the tax payer is on the hook for higher education, there is no reason for them to control prices. My wife and I paid for our son’s education without any help from government, and yes, it was expensive. How much do you value your own kid’s education?
The “no tax” Republicans and "W"s education policies “fixed” education the same way the car crusher in the junk yard “fixes” your car. Ever declining revenues from taxes put the burden on students, and universities.
My son is back in college after 13 years in the military, seeking to re-train, as he cannot, due to disability, do any of the MOS jobs he was trained for. It was REPUBLICANS, who amended law with the “Veterans ‘enhancement’ Act” who screwed things up so he can’t get his tuition covered in his somewhat unique “retraining” program.
The simple fact is that 30 years of “Republican” sponsored and Democratic “weak knees” policies of “penny wise and pound foolish”, have left all elements of the nation with tons of debt, period.
Here is a principle we all need to wrap our heads around. If someone else has to pay for it, it is no longer a right but rather a privilege. Blaming either party for where we are as a nation is a cop out. You want to know where the problem starts? Look in the mirror. The current line of thought that removes personal responsibility from our decisions is what has put us where we are. I am not responsible for your actions, you are not responsible for mine. Pay for your own and let me pay for mine.
Meanwhile, the OWS folks (or, “the finest of society” to the collectivist drones) blame the loaning institutions for their debt, rather than the colleges whose costs are out of control.
Why aren’t you collectivist drones blaming the banks for the high cost of tuition and other college costs, because, after all, your ideal angels say so?
I’m sorry you had such a hard time in school, Cal. I don’t know how old you were when you dropped out, but the standard age to graduate with a diploma has been 18 since at least the 1950’s. Instead of demonizing the teachers’ unions, why don’t you start attending school board meetings and find out where the money really goes. Hint: it’s not the teachers. It Is this anti-education attitude that is really destroying our country. I’m an engineer, and I see fewer and fewer young Americans coming into the tech fields, because they are not nearly as qualified as young foreign workers from countries that take education very seriously. We are quickly becoming a second rate country because of this. You may be happy working at Walmart and serving our Chinese overlords, but I choose to keep educating myself and keep up with the rest of the world. If you really knew how far behind we are, your head would spin. I’ve worked and trained in other countries, and they do not take our workers seriously any more.
The unions have a lot less power than you think. Since the Reagan era’s anti union witch hunts, they mow only serve as a collective bargaining platform to prevent mass layoffs. The only protection teachers have now is tenure, and even I think that needs to be changed to get more qualified teachers employed and weed out some deadwood that can no longer perform their duties. Most administrators tend to be conservative, which is why they treat it as a free market job and a business and not and educational institution. This is where the money gets lost, and this is why I encourage you to look at your local district and find out what really goes on. Most teachers I know started around 18-20k a year and only receive a cost of living raise. Almost all of them work second jobs over the summer and on weekends, unless they have a spouse who makes more money. Our media outlets thrive on outrage, and are very good at sniffing out the exception to the rule, exploiting it, and everyone else suffers from the backlash.
Of course we could improve education in the US (and Canada). Start with the elementary schools. Attract better elementary teacher by raising their salaries. Get serious about math, science, and languages. More experiential learning, less sitting at a desk. Then may when the students get to me at university, they will know something, they will still be excited about learning, they will know that it takes hard work to learn, but they will understand why the work is worthwhile.
BigSlurpy about 12 years ago
Anything the government subsidizes will always increase in price.
rockngolfer about 12 years ago
The USF scandal is the poster child for what is wrong with the system.
lonecat about 12 years ago
Too late, Neo — Satan has tenure.
Fourcrows about 12 years ago
It’s the administrators that need investigated. My wife has been a professor for 17 years, and at the same school for the past 8, and makes less than 20k a year. The president of the university makes over 400k and has no background in education (she was a bank executive). Schools are run on a business model and are for profit now, not for educating. It is more important to increase enrollment now and get that first year of tuition than it is to graduate students. The result is now everyone gets accepted, and the students who have potential still drop out because the professors have to try to cater to the students who shouldn’t be there in the first place. Universities used to focus on accepting those who would last 4 years but that is not as profitable as overloading the front end. Unfortunately, government funding would not solve this problem, but perhaps exacerbate it unless the states set up a review board to fully investigate where the money went in each state funded school.
renewed1 about 12 years ago
Can you believe those people? Imagine expecting a person to pay for his own education!
renewed1 about 12 years ago
As I mentioned to my DEMOCRAT representative, as long as the tax payer is on the hook for higher education, there is no reason for them to control prices. My wife and I paid for our son’s education without any help from government, and yes, it was expensive. How much do you value your own kid’s education?
Dtroutma about 12 years ago
The “no tax” Republicans and "W"s education policies “fixed” education the same way the car crusher in the junk yard “fixes” your car. Ever declining revenues from taxes put the burden on students, and universities.
My son is back in college after 13 years in the military, seeking to re-train, as he cannot, due to disability, do any of the MOS jobs he was trained for. It was REPUBLICANS, who amended law with the “Veterans ‘enhancement’ Act” who screwed things up so he can’t get his tuition covered in his somewhat unique “retraining” program.
The simple fact is that 30 years of “Republican” sponsored and Democratic “weak knees” policies of “penny wise and pound foolish”, have left all elements of the nation with tons of debt, period.
renewed1 about 12 years ago
Here is a principle we all need to wrap our heads around. If someone else has to pay for it, it is no longer a right but rather a privilege. Blaming either party for where we are as a nation is a cop out. You want to know where the problem starts? Look in the mirror. The current line of thought that removes personal responsibility from our decisions is what has put us where we are. I am not responsible for your actions, you are not responsible for mine. Pay for your own and let me pay for mine.
yohannbiimu about 12 years ago
Meanwhile, the OWS folks (or, “the finest of society” to the collectivist drones) blame the loaning institutions for their debt, rather than the colleges whose costs are out of control.
Why aren’t you collectivist drones blaming the banks for the high cost of tuition and other college costs, because, after all, your ideal angels say so?
Fourcrows about 12 years ago
I’m sorry you had such a hard time in school, Cal. I don’t know how old you were when you dropped out, but the standard age to graduate with a diploma has been 18 since at least the 1950’s. Instead of demonizing the teachers’ unions, why don’t you start attending school board meetings and find out where the money really goes. Hint: it’s not the teachers. It Is this anti-education attitude that is really destroying our country. I’m an engineer, and I see fewer and fewer young Americans coming into the tech fields, because they are not nearly as qualified as young foreign workers from countries that take education very seriously. We are quickly becoming a second rate country because of this. You may be happy working at Walmart and serving our Chinese overlords, but I choose to keep educating myself and keep up with the rest of the world. If you really knew how far behind we are, your head would spin. I’ve worked and trained in other countries, and they do not take our workers seriously any more.
Fourcrows about 12 years ago
The unions have a lot less power than you think. Since the Reagan era’s anti union witch hunts, they mow only serve as a collective bargaining platform to prevent mass layoffs. The only protection teachers have now is tenure, and even I think that needs to be changed to get more qualified teachers employed and weed out some deadwood that can no longer perform their duties. Most administrators tend to be conservative, which is why they treat it as a free market job and a business and not and educational institution. This is where the money gets lost, and this is why I encourage you to look at your local district and find out what really goes on. Most teachers I know started around 18-20k a year and only receive a cost of living raise. Almost all of them work second jobs over the summer and on weekends, unless they have a spouse who makes more money. Our media outlets thrive on outrage, and are very good at sniffing out the exception to the rule, exploiting it, and everyone else suffers from the backlash.
lonecat about 12 years ago
Of course we could improve education in the US (and Canada). Start with the elementary schools. Attract better elementary teacher by raising their salaries. Get serious about math, science, and languages. More experiential learning, less sitting at a desk. Then may when the students get to me at university, they will know something, they will still be excited about learning, they will know that it takes hard work to learn, but they will understand why the work is worthwhile.