Student-Loan Debt Is Strangling Gen X

[FastLane]

Sounds familiar. Where did you go for undergraduate?

A small church owned college, Southwestern in Keene Texas first two years then last two years Union in Lincoln Nebraska. Then UT for grad school and Southwestern Medical school.

I graduated high school in 1971. The Vietnam war was going and they were drafting people. I was going to start college at Lamar in the fall but the government was stopping deferments. The small church owned college was on the quarter system so I could still get in there for summer classes and get a college deferment.

 

[anonymoose]

A small church owned college, Southwestern in Keene Texas first two years then last two years Union in Lincoln Nebraska. Then UT for grad school and Southwestern Medical school.

I graduated high school in 1971. The Vietnam war was going and they were drafting people. I was going to start college at Lamar in the fall but the government was stopping deferments. The small church owned college was on the quarter system so I could still get in there for summer classes and get a college deferment.

Interesting.
I first came to the realization that it was assumed I was going to LSU since the 5th grade. For better or worse, that’s where I went.

 

[LurchAddams]

I think a lot of students have higher career aspirations than what they end up achieving. They see a big amount, but think they'll make a lot of money & it won't be a problem. The idealism of youth.

I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of free education - but college costs are so out of control now. Even public universities. I remember when I went, it was pretty Spartan. No frills dorm rooms, the food was bad, etc. Now, it seems like colleges have to make it like a country club to attract applicants, and they have sushi and sirloin at the dining halls, workout areas like the finest hotels have, the best of everything.

To me, this story is more about how college costs have outpaced incomes more than anything.

All costs have risen. Colleges also need its funding to keep up with the cost of living to pay the higher wages everyone's making now. Are college costs really out of step with the rising costs of all other goods and services? For example, I can remember paying 50 cents/gal for fuel. I'm thinking if we did an apples to apples with the increase in the cost of fuel, the percentage increase to the price/gal today will be in step with college costs.

I'm now a vendor for products and my former college is one of my prospects. I've toured the campus recently and although there are new buildings - the school has grown - the food in the cafeteria is the same when I went there decades ago. There is no "sushi" served there. My son went to a non-cheap college out of state starting in 2022. Summer heat where we sent him topped 100 during the summer. He didn't have air conditioning in his dorm room. I honestly don't know where you haters of higher education get your horseshit. Turn off Faux News, my friend. It's doing you no good!

 

[cawacko]

That is why I said a QUALITY online University. and for FREE as long as you maintain a 3.0. Then require Universities that accept Federal funds to accept the first two years of online credits with transfer students. That way a student could get his first two years of college for free then transfer to a great University like UT to finish up and receive a degree. The key is to provide QUALITY courses online. There isn't much difference between a freshman class with 500 students in an auditorium and an online course.

I love the ambition of what you’re envisioning, the challenge again goes back to credibility.

It’s one thing to say build a quality university, it’s another thing to do it. That takes a lot of resources. It requires accreditation, strong facility and consistent standards.

A lot of universities struggle with that in their online programs, so this would be a steep climb to be seen as credible and not just a diploma mill.

Have you heard anyone talking of building a University like this?