College keeps poor people poor

Wait, isn't that all backwards? Doesn't college allow poor people to join the ranks of the upper middle class?

Well maybe that's the way it used to work once upon a time, but not today. Today, the college graduate is burdened with student loans, starting out life already in debt. And about a decade ago, Congress passed a law prohibiting student loans from being discharged in bankruptcy.

Many people graduate college unable to find jobs, and if they do find one, the salary is probably pretty low, hardly enough to justify the crushing debt of student loans. A college degree isn't needed for the majority of jobs that college graduates get placed in. Two generations ago, those same types of jobs were offered to people without college degrees.

But rich people go to elite colleges, and their parents pay for their education so they graduate debt free and obtain $120,000/year jobs like Chelsea Clinton.

Yes, our college education system is set up to help the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. We need to stop deluding ourselves into believing that college opens up opportunities for poor people. Apprenticeships, where people learn valuable skills and get paid at the same time is what we need.

Comments

[Fargus]

I'm all for education & stuff, but I think you're pretty much right on this one. The upward mobility afforded by college anymore requires you to dig yourself into such a hole that you end up coming out even at best. I mean, people are coming out of school with $70,000 worth of loans, and then getting $35,000/yr jobs. That just doesn't compute, especially when the loans keep gaining interest. This is a burden on the shoulders of students for years and years after they finally graduate from college.

Citibank's student loan division posted profits--PROFITS-- in the billions in 2003. What's fair about that?

[Kender]

That system does need to be fixed....I have friends that went to college to become teachers and one of them, after a year of teaching asked me, "Why did I go to college to get a degree for a job that qualifies me for low income housing?"

[Abby]

I agree too. I actually went to an elite college and graduated at the height of the boom. Even with that degree getting a job wasn't easy if you didn't have the right internships, and taking those internships often meant having to work for free which a lot of the less well-off couldn't afford to do.

[Abby]

I agree too. I actually went to an elite college and graduated at the height of the boom. Even with that degree getting a job wasn't easy if you didn't have the right internships, and taking those internships often meant having to work for free which a lot of the less well-off couldn't afford to do.

[KraftyOne]

Kender - that is so me! Fortunately I take tests really well and managed to get an excellent scholarship for my schooling. I managed to get out with only $3,000 debt. However, now that I have graduated (in December 2003), I have a job (I took the first one that was offered after 3 months of joblessness following graduation) that allows me to live in affordable housing! On the upside, I pay way less for a rather nice, large place than I would if I made more money. On the downside, I live about 20 feet from a railroad crossing...

On the other side of things however, no one is forcing anyone to go to the most expensive private colleges - not that public schools are a bargain either...

[Phil]

Older folks are also finding college not as useful as it used to be because of outsourcing, increasing specialization, and the fact that more people have college degrees, says this article "Long-Term Jobless Find a Degree Just Isn't Working"

[SheaNC]

I went through a four-month jobless period about a year and a half ago, and I did a ton of applying, testing, and interviewing. It seems that the vast majority of employers, many of whom hire through all sorts of elaborate human resources structures, are looking for people who "meet the MQ's" (minimum qualifications). That meant that if the job description called for a Masters degree, only applicants with that degree were considered; all else were tossed. So, from a practical standpoint, from what I saw, the degree will get you the job. Personally, along with that apprenticeship idea, I think college credit for work/life experience is worth considering.

[Kender]

In my wifes field 5 years of experience is equal to a bachelors degree fro hiring purpose....it doesn't go any higher unfortunately. In my field there isn't a degree or a school that teaches what I know or do. Unless you take into account the school of hard knocks.

[TJ]

You are dead-wrong, again ... here are a couple of thoughts on this one:

* You are only 'overly burdened' by loans if you went to a school WELL above your current means; and more-so if you also took a 'bad major'. If you work your way through college (like I was, before dropping out to focus on actually making a living) you start off debt free.

* A 'bad major' may never pay off; think a 4yr history degree that qualifies you to work at Walmart :). Alternatively, it may be a field that requires Masters / PhD before being valued in the economy - you should consider this when deciding on a major.

* The degree won't get you a job; however they do open some doors ... however, some of those doors don't need to be opened. You *can* make a living w/o a degree (I am doing so now) ... at some point it will (more than likely) benefit you to go get one (I am planning on doing so).

* Find an employer which offer tuition reimbursement / assistance. My current employer does nothing to help me with this, but every employer before this one had fairly generous programs to assist with getting a degree.

* Like anything else in the market, people who have money have an easier time of it ... Ms. Clinton being auto-hired for $120k/yr is borderline criminal, but that is an exception to the rule.

* College Loans MOST CERTAINLY should be excluded from bankruptcy protection; otherwise everyone would just go to Harvard, etc. ... free ... which would then either bankrupt Harvard or, more likely, the loan office used for said craptastic loan. And regardless of who/what got bankrupted, you would then have the same degree as everyone else meaning it has no added value!

/TJ
... NIF
... The Wide Awakes