Daily Princetonian: Many people shouldn't go to college

Found this over at Instapundit with the quote: "So you've heard it from me, you've heard it from Barack Obama, and now it's the Daily Princetonian"

I'm assuming that the Daily Princetonian is a student newspaper and this column was written by a religion major. So therefore was it a matter of time before a college student or college newspaper write such an opinion. Some of the arguments here make sense:

Policymakers and university administrators have admirably worked to expand access to college over the past several decades. In terms of enrollment rates, their efforts have been successful — matriculation increased by thirty seven percent between 2000 and 2010. So, the good news is that we’re getting young adults on campus. But we are profoundly failing them as a country after that; America’s graduation rate sits at an abysmal 53 percent, including community colleges. This disparity betrays a critical disconnect, one not discussed often enough — that a large swath of those lured to college should never have attended.

Seemingly insurmountable odds work against the typical young American. A college graduate today has to contend with an average of nearly $30,000 in student loan debt. The overall jobless rate for those between sixteen and twenty four is fifteen percent, more than double the national average. That said, the reality is that a large number of college students have no business being at four year universities.

American culture aggressively pushes the college experience and dismisses skeptics as snobs. Master plumbers, for example, make roughly between $50,000 — approximately the national average — and $80,000 a year. So why is it considered so wrong to encourage people to pursue the profession, or another like it, instead of a college degree? One path all but ensures a life in the middle class; for far too many, the other only guarantees crushing debt and no degree.

Therefore those who are in college now, probably weren't ready or qualified for college. This is something you'd really have to want in the first place, expectation or no expectation. And you can't expect everyone else to take care of it for you, if you have no skin in the game anyway.

Of course skin in the game for me would mean cash money, if one is lucky no loans at all! Perhaps some grants and scholarships, but nothing would beat a part-time job while you're in school. Especially if you can't afford to go on your own.

Black Voices: Are Elite Colleges Worth the Price Tag?

It was about this time that I had paid a visit to some college fairs back in high school (GO FALCONS!). Hopefully current generations of high school students are doing what's suggested here at the Black Voices section of the Huffington Post. Evaluate what may be the best value to you in not only terms of money but the future. It was not the foresight that was allowed to me back in the day!

Forbes: America's Top Colleges 2013

I got wind of this because on another site it was noted that 16 HBCUs were part of this year's list. Some familiar colleges were on this list especially Morehouse, Spelman, and Clark-Atlanta. Other HBCUs I expected to be on this list weren't, but hey surely these lists don't make or break a school. Some of the other big names schools were omitted because they decided to falsify data such universities such as Emory University (also in Atlanta) and Bucknell University.

Morehouse was noted in the article: "The biggest mover-shaker was Morehouse College, the only all-male historically black college in the U.S., who jumped 235 spots to No. 285."

Paul gets cool reception at Howard

I think it's a great thing for Kentucky US Senator Rand Paul to visit Howard University - an HBCU. It's truly good to know an American university is truly seeking to provide students with opposite viewpoints from their own. Still why were the Bisons cool to Sen. Paul:

"I don't think he changed any minds," one student said, noting that Howard has a tradition of allowing controversial figures speak at their university in order to get a broad range of viewpoints.

"I came here because I'm a very open-minded person," Jazmine, a junior, stated. "And I'm excited about the way I hope the GOP will do its thing in the future because I think that they're on the right track," she added. However, she said she did not think that Paul was the right person to spread the GOP's message of tolerance given his questionable position on the Civil Rights Act. (An issue he tried to resolve Monday, claiming that he has "never waivered" in support of the legislation.)

Jazmine and several other students said they also took offense at the Senator's attempts to educate them on the GOP's role in the advancement of African-Americans and pander to them by quoting Toni Morrison and notable Howard alums - all of whom were black. At one point in the speech Paul asked the students if they knew that Republicans founded the NAACP. The audience was visibly taken aback and audibly expressed shock that Paul would have the audacity to ask the predominately black audience a question about black history.

"This is Howard University. We know the history of the Republican Party. We have to take political science. I should have brought my book. That's in the first chapter," Jazmine said.

The outspoken college student admitted that there was nothing Paul could have said or done to change her mind about him or the Republican Party and was unable to give an example of someone within the party she'd be more likely to listen to.

"I feel like no one has really taken a step in that direction" her friend, Evelyn, chimed in, saying she would be more likely to take into consideration a speech by someone "genuine," unlike Paul, who she said should have owned up to his previous statements about the Civil Rights Act.

Perhaps the GOP can reach out to other HBCUs around the nation as well. I'm sure many of them have their own College Republican organizations. If I may add a former RNC chairman Lee Atwater had been a member of the Howard University Board of Trustees although it was for a brief period and he resigned his position.

Via Instapundit who offers Sen. Paul points for actually showing up!

AJC: With foreclosure looming Morris Brown College on the brink

Morris Brown College has been chronicled here on this blog in the past. It looks like their struggles are getting much much worse!

For more than a decade, Morris Brown College has clung to life as it struggled academically and financially in the face of growing debt and dwindling support.

Now, one of the country's oldest black colleges, which at times boasted an enrollment of more than 3,000 student, is now down to about 50, and all but dead.

Morris Brown is facing foreclosure next month, after investors called $13 million worth of bonds tied to the college. An auction of assets, including the administration building, is scheduled for Sept. 4.

"This is heartbreaking and not only a sad day in the life of Morris Brown, but in black academia," said former Atlanta City Councilman Derrick Boazman, a 1990 graduate of Morris Brown. "The school is needed now more than ever."

The school is planning to have a prayer vigil on Saturday, where they will 0ffer a plan to move the school forward.

While not going into specifics, Benjamin Harrison, a spokesman for the 6th District African Methodist Episcopal Church, which oversees the school, said officials will talk about reorganizing and restructuring as well as finances.

Calls to Morris Brown President Stanley J. Pritchett were not returned Wednesday, but Harrison acknowledged that while efforts are being made to find money to settle the debt the going is tough.

"There is the need to raise millions of dollars to counteract that deficit," Harrison said. "But if that money is not raised, the school is in jeopardy."

Here's hoping Morris Brown gets their funds to stave off foreclosure!

What's a liberal arts degree worth nowadays?

I went to a liberal arts college - Morehouse College - and well I hear a lot about those students who graduated and are doing very well in their lives. What most students who attend and eventually graduate may not hear the reality. That is how to many of them start off before they do very well? 

Doomsayers be damned: America’s higher-education model, and its price tag, ain’t broke. So says Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro. In a recent op-ed for the L.A. Times, Schapiro and Lewis & Clark College President Barry Glassner argue that the college premium — the ratio of college earning to high school earnings — justifies the investment in higher education. Individuals with a college degree now make almost 85 percent more over a lifetime than those with only a high school diploma.

But statistics are tricky — while one economist opts to focus on the long-term returns, another is focused on the immediate future, which, for many recent college graduates, is bleak. More than 50 percent of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 were jobless or underemployed in the last year. So if and when a college graduate gets a job, he’s likely to earn, on average, $20,000 more annually than a person with a high school diploma. But when the average student is graduating with $25,000 in student-loan debt, he or she might be a bit more focused on getting a paycheck, any paycheck.

This might explain why, as Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder is quick to point out, there are 80,000 bartenders and 115,000 janitors with bachelor’s degrees.

Looking at a graphic at the WBEZ article, I chose the wrong major. Should've majored in a science or engineering related field. If only I hadn't been so intimidated by science and math when I was in school!

BTW, to be fair I wasn't as aggressive as other graduating seniors when it came to looking for the next step in their futures. I never thought seriously about law school or graduate school in any way. It was more important to me to find a job, however, my search didn't really start until I finally graduated. Safe to say the ball was dropped and the situation today is what it is. 

Via Newsalert!

The Board of Trustees response to the #MorehouseLetter

Well actually the response of Morehouse College Board of Trustees Chairman Robert Davidson to attorney Imar Hutchins to his original letter and his collective statement. Mr. Hutchins isn't going to get his audience with the Trustees, but at least the concerns of the Morehouse community are being heard. Also check out Hutchins response to Davidson's letter. Perhaps the talk needs to only continue!

Previous posts

• #MorehouseLetter: Morehouse in a downward trajectory?
• Remember that #MorehouseLetter...

Some student loans to become more expensive despite deal

Washington Post has the story about student loans:

College students are facing a roughly $20 billion increase in the cost of their federal loans, despite a much-heralded deal in Washington to contain the expense of higher education.

Starting Sunday, students hoping to earn the graduate degrees that have become mandatory for many white-collar jobs will become responsible for paying the interest on their federal loans while they are in school and immediately after they graduate. That means they’ll have to pay an extra $18 billion out of pocket over the next decade.

Meanwhile, the government will no longer cover the interest on undergraduate loans during the six months after students finish school. That’s expected to cost them more than $2 billion.

These changes have received little attention as lawmakers instead focus on preventing a spike in interest rates on federal student loans. They are the fallout of earlier political battles and compromises over broader issues such as the federal budget and the national debt ceiling. And they are forcing students such as Clarise McCants to make tough choices about how to pursue academic goals without jeopardizing financial security.

At least for college I hope that students going to school in the near future are much smarter about how to pay for it. Save some money at the very least!

Remember that #MorehouseLetter...

That I posted on June 20th. Now the author of that letter wants Morehouse alumni, students, and other supporters to add their names to a collective statement to be sent to the Morehouse College Board of Trustees. 134 names totals have signed onto this letter so far! Sooner or later my name will be on it!

Powerline: Thoughts on the Edububble

We want to encourage our young people to go to college. I may have it backwards but my goal is to not lie to them about the investment they and their parents are about to make. So here's an example:

Today, a good private college costs between $40 and $50K a year; many state universities will run you over $20K a year.  Total cost for four year now: $150K or more.  That’s not even close to a starting professional salary, except for the handful of top students who go to Wall Street.  I’ve run this shift by some college administrators and get the same answer: “Well, very few people actually pay those full tuition rates.  Most students get some amount of financial aid, so the real cost is much lower.”  To which I respond: “Determining what college is going to cost you ought not to be like haggling with a used car dealer.”  (Memo to parents by the way: if you have a child admitted to several colleges, you should treat the financial aid offices exactly like used car dealers, and beat the hell out of them for the best deal.  Apologies here to used car dealers; you are actually more scrupulous than college financial aid departments.)

The parenthesis of that above quote would certainly apply to that young lady from my old high school who really wanted to go to Spelman College but she didn't get the best deal there! She did go for the best deal btw still this is a lesson to many high school seniors who are still trying to figure out where they should start their undergrad education!

Via Instapundit which had this pertinent comment, "What other industry forces you to give them detailed financial statements before they’ll decide on your price?"

Well that is what they're doing when you fill out a FAFSA so that you can get grants and loans! Of course that means the information input on the FAFSA will have to be evaluated by a college financial aid advisor.

Will You Marry Me (After I Pay Off My Student Loans)?

Well, I got lots of students loans right now though at least I'm not jumping back to school anytime soon. The article doesn't seem to address the issue of job prospects which is why many students are having difficulty with their student loans:

A new report (not yet online) by economic forecasting firm IHS Global Insight points out that while other forms of debt have been going down since 2007, student loan debt has been growing, both in terms of the number of borrowers and the size of the loans. At the same time, the number of young Americans delaying marriage and starting a family has accelerated.

In 2007, the median age of a first marriage for males was 27.5 years old, and for females, 25.6 years old, according to IHS. By 2011 it crept up to 28.7 and 26.5, respectively. Fertility rates, defined as births per 1,000 women aged 15-44, decreased significantly from 69.3 in 2007 to just below 65 last year. (The marriage trend began earlier in the decade. Fertility rates, on the other hand, were going up until the recession hit.)

While credit-card, auto loan, and mortgage debt have all been falling since 2007, student loan debt has been rising—and faster than expected. Last week the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that student loan debt surpassed the $1 trillion mark in the fourth quarter of 2011. That estimate is greater than earlier ones, including the New York Fed’s $867 billion projection.

Also:

The lack of job prospects for young Americans isn’t dulling the pain. This age group has been hit harder by the downturn than others. That has caused many more young adults to enroll in school, thus saddling themselves with even greater student loan burdens, IHS says.

The Obama administration is trying to ease the pain. Late last year the president issued an executive order mandating that outstanding student debt be forgiven after 20 years, down from 25 years, and that student debt payments not exceed 10 percent of a graduate’s income, a drop from 15 percent. What impact will the changes have? At least one analysis has found that they’ll save grads less than $10 a month. Definitely not enough to work on those wedding plans.

 OK, so hopefully I'll find me a nice woman who isn't fazed by my debt. Hopefully she doesn't have as much debt herself. Hopefully debt won't put a dent into our wedding plans. Besides this is only temporary.

Via Newsalert!

What Happens When A 35-Year-Old Man Retakes The SAT?

Well, I think I have been thoroughly discouraged from taking the SAT. A guy did it recently and he hated it at 17 and he hates it now! His conclusion:

I took my final score on this practice test and did a proportion (one more goddamn math problem) to see if my score was better than it was 19 years ago. And it was, by roughly 190 points. (I got 2140 this time. You do the math yourself.) I'm smarter than I was when I was 17, and that's a relief, because I was a fucking MORON at 17. If you're 35 years old and you're thinking about retaking the SAT as a kind of blog stunt, I would highly recommend you avoid it. In fact, I would recommend that no one take the SAT ever. It's a sternly worded dinosaur of a test, graded in an arbitrary manner with outdated equipment, and it blows. The only reason people take it is because they have to. It exists only so that preppy dipshits can brag about their scores well into adulthood if they did well. I hate it. I hope the Princeton Review gets fucked by a cattle prod.

If you're 17 or 18 and don't want to take the SAT go to a community college. Depending on where you go to a university those college credits will be more than enough. Well those and the GPA at least.

Once upon a time I took the ACT, the SAT wasn't promoted at my high school or perhaps even in CPS. My senior year of high school however I really didn't bother applying to any universities anyway. Just simply applied to one of the City Colleges of Chicago got registered and took a placement test and was all set from there. My ACT scores weren't that good so college admissions could've been a challenge for me then.

Anyway, if I ever want to go back to school it might required taking a different test such as the LSAT, GRE or even the GMAT. Hopefully my patience won't be tested with those exams.

Via Instapundit!