File Under: Blogospheric infidelity

I admit it I have been a downright horrible blogger.  I hardly ever post on my own blog.  I'm always to busy with Facebook and Twitter.  Social media has taken over.   Now I've gone and cheated on Cursed Monkey Paw and founded Beards and Balloons on Tumblr.  Don't worry CMP, I'll still stop by and say hi, every once and awhile.

File Under: Michael Kiwanuka - Tell Me a Tale

File Under: Chamberlin at COMBF

File Under: Chamberlin - Fret12 Interview

File Under: Problems of Higher Education

(Note: This post was written last week, at the request of a campaign.  It was sucked into the black hole of overworked volunteerism and hasn't been published or commented on.  I have decided to pull the trigger and post it, before our national hamster mind finds something else to fixate on.)

Most of us have been vaguely aware that the price of a college degree has been on a steady increase for quite sometime.  In the last few weeks, many stories have come to light about the disturbing true costs of higher education and leading some to question the true value of a college education.  What we are seeing now is a confluence of three major factors, the skyrocketing cost of a college education, the ever increasing amount of student debt and a lack of good jobs for graduates.  The problem is readily apparent in Maine, where we have ranked number two in the Union, in average student loan debt, second only to New Hampshire.

THE COST:

Since 1980, the price tag to attend a typical public university has risen nearly 500%.  We can all guess that the increase far outstrips inflation and the rate at which family incomes have climbed.  All of which leaves us, to wonder why.

In 2010, Kevin Carey (article) wrote a great piece on the ever increasing cost of higher education and how institutions are judged on a reputation culture rather than an objective data.  His argument being, we judge schools on how much they spend and in turn how much they cost, rather than how well they teach the students.  Therefore, schools continue to spend more and more to maintain reputation in order to keep up recruitment.  The cycle continues on and on, with schools vying for attention and increasing tuition every year, to cover the tab.

These increasing costs have also outpaced the rate at which Pell Grants and scholarships can keep up.  In 1980, if you received a $1000.00 scholarship, you had about a third of a year's tuition at an average public school.  Today, that same scholarship, accounts for less than an eighth (infographic) of the average annual tuition.  Pell Grants used to be around 70% and have fallen to the mid thirties.  That's without even getting into room and board, books, and all those lovely fees.

What we have also seen across our fair nation, is a steady decline in the amount of money that States are putting into their universities and colleges.  With ever tightening belts, these are easy cuts to make, they fall into the category of “user fees” in many lawmakers minds.  The people getting the education are paying for it, in higher tuition.

What all this comes down to, for those without the money, is the creation student loans.

STUDENT DEBT:

$1 Trillion is what our national student debt total is estimated to be.  Bigger than credit cards, bigger than car loans, second only to mortgages in the consumer debt world.  The average US college graduate is said to have $23,300 in student loans.  The average Maine student is looking at just a shade under $30k.  The numbers are also showing that 66% of all those college graduates have these loans.   Maine once again, beats that at 68%.

Mind you, these numbers don't seem to include all the loans parents took out.  They also seem to be hazy on those who didn't graduate and dropped out.  The numbers are more disturbing, if we look at data for recent graduates.  This USA Today article had this to say:

“The average student debt load tops $25,000 in the U.S., while the job market for recent graduates continues to struggle. More than 95 U.S. colleges report that their 2010 graduates — the most recent data available — owed on average more than $35,000, and 73 colleges reported that more than 90% of the 2010 class had student loan debt, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Institute for College Access & Success' Project on Student Debt.”

This would indicate that situation is worsening.  Some economists see this as a potential financial crisis.  Not as bad as the mortgage mess, but still damaging to an already bloodied economy.  Ultimately, it will come down to whether or not these students can pay.

WHY CAN'T THEY PAY?

We've heard the mantra on and off, from both sides of the aisles. “Jobs, jobs, jobs!”  That's right, jobs.  Many recent college graduates have emerged into an economy with no place for them.  It's hard to pay a $500.00 a monthly student loan bill, when you're only making $1000.00 a month.  At some point, they will have to decide what they pay and what they won't.  It's not a hard choice when one can't afford food, rent and paying Sallie Mae.

Even the graduates who land good jobs are going to be impacted.  These debts will slow their ability to buy a car, a house, or pay for their own child's education.  If anything horrible should happen, these loans can't be bankrupted.

With the threat of student loan interest rates doubling, due to Congressional inaction, you can bet this won't be getting better anytime soon.

FALLOUT:

We can not continue on this path.  If higher education becomes out of reach for the lower and middle class, we will further erode our ability to compete in the world market.  If too many, who do manage to graduate, are overly burdened by student loans, they will not be able to fully participate in our economy.  If the existing loans aren't repaid, the American tax payer is on the hook for all the federally insured loans, so it will be us, and not the banks, stuck with this unsecured loans.

None of these things leads to a prosperous nation.  We, as a nation, need to address these issues.  The proposed solutions to the issues facing us, are varied and of differing value, but until we have a Congress willing to work together and address them, we won't get anywhere.  Therefore, it is incumbent upon us, as Americans, and Mainers, to weigh the options and hold our elected officials to the fire on this front.