What are your basic RIGHTS, and what should they cost YOU?

a reply to: stolencar18

Yeah, I agree except Ms. Mullen would not answer. She would prevaricate and avoid a direct commitment, similar to how this crowd approaches life. And now the students are upset because the media is paying more attention to the tragedy in Paris than to them and the terrorism of having to apply for student loans they experience. It is laughable except for the fact that future generations are going to consider this nonsense normal.

We live in a world today where one doesn't ask themself "am I offended by the action of others". Instead by todays standards the question is this: "do I feel I have the right to be offended by the action of others?" It doesn't matter if one is actually offended. It gets to "What can I get out of this and to hell with the innocent party".

a reply to: Aazadan
Not everyone should go to an Ivy League school. Hell, I wanted to go to one but knew I couldn't afford it. One of the major factors on where I even applied was cost. I knew what I could afford and knew my parents were not going to foot the bill. It is amazing to me that not only do kids today think they have a right to an education, they think they have a right to an Ivy League education. That is how you get these schools to lower their cost. When they have priced themselves out of the market, the cost will go down. I went to a state college and through the GI Bill got a graduate school education. An education is available. If you cannot afford the high cost schools then go to one that doesn't cost as much. It is the entitlement attitude that causes kids to get in over their heads, enrolling in schools without regard to cost. I want a Lamborgini too but I can't afford it. Why treat an education any different.

I agree that these Universities are too expensive. It is a vicious circle but part of the reason is that universities are not only in the business of education but also research. The government throws around millions for research grants in science and medicine, and you name it. So consequently many schools have expanded their facilities for labs and even though they take contributions to pay for them, tuition has also risen at the same time. So a kid who wants to study business for example, is paying tuition that includes money to fund the construction of these research facilities. Again, it is the mighty dollar that drives this and until students get a clue and decide to stop paying for facilities that they will not use it is not going to change.

originally posted by: stolencar18
With all due respect, your generation - likely the same as mine - needs to hike up their shorts and quit whining.

I'm 32 so feel free to peg my generation from there. I know many people my age, people with good educations in useful fields that don't have jobs because they don't exist. Several engineers that deliver pizza, computer scientists that stock shelves in Walmart, I even know someone that graduated law school that's a barista. The jobs don't exist.

Student loan debt doesn't exceed all credit card debt. Not even close. That's a blatant lie. Using your hero's #'s, Keely Mullen figured there's 1.3 trillion in student loan debt in the US. A quick google search showed several reputable sites showing total American credit card debt at 3+ trillion dollars.

Back in 2011 student loan debt had passed credit card debt. It seems you're right though but that's not a positive thing, because it means credit card debt has more than tripled in the last 4 years. The point stands though that student loan debt is out of control.

And having a no-skill job and no life? Good effing grief...Work for a living and earn an honest days pay and make your own way. A "life" - meaning a social life, free time to play Xbox, drinking nights, etc - is not a right you have. The problem is there is no work ethic anymore. Everyone thinks they deserve a $15 dollar an hour job for doing no work. And the crying about having no options? Bull. There's lots of physical labor type jobs that pay well over $20. Look harder. They're out there.

$20/hour with what sort of ceiling? I spoke to someone on these boards a few months ago that said how great their job was because it was hard physical work, started at $15 and if you stuck around you would cap out at $25 after a couple years. $25 is what the minimum wage should be. Being proud of a job that pays $20 is ludicrous. Quite frankly, not a single person in the country should be settling for anything that pays below $30/hour to start right now but people do.

And college? If you choose that route, you don't need an Ivy league university to get a successful career afterwards.

I'm well aware of this point, I have 4 degrees and I'm working on my 5th and final one. None are from big named schools, but the schools themselves are good. The main advantage of a big name school other than name recognition is in graduation rates. They have high costs to attend and selective enterence exams, but once you're in you will not fail. Ivy League schools are a big of a joke actually. Schools like Princeton, Yale, and Harvard have over 99% graduation rates which means well under 1% fail any given class. At the 3 tiny schools I've attended the schools graduation rates have been 17%, 15%, and 12%. The program I'm in now has a graduation rate of 8% (compared to 15% for the school as a whole). Money buys that certainty you graduate, in comparison I spend under $8k/year in tuition but there is a very real and extremely high chance of not being successful.

Finally, people paying tens of thousands for courses without researching what kind of income they can earn afterwards? That's their own fault.

Not all jobs are going to pay highly, but that doesn't mean society shouldn't have those jobs. Jobs in the arts like performers, painters, authors, musicians, or even the liberal arts like philosophers, women's studies, or social workers are jobs that society is better off having than not having. The people who fill those roles for us shouldn't be stuck with unworkable amounts of debt to go alongside their poor wages when they're still doing something to benefit society.

Ya..I'm mad. These people are selfish and lazy and I'm sick of people who want something for nothing.

It's not something for nothing. It's getting a fraction of the payoff that was promised after putting in the work for an education.

a reply to: Aazadan

I appreciate your position on these things, and I agree with some.

I agree that people shouldn't settle for a low paying job, but I don't think society owes people a $15 or $20 or $30/hr job. People should earn it. The jobs do exist, too. Perhaps not in your town, but people relocate all over the country and start successful lives. My thoughts are this...if you want to start a career in your area you should make sure there is opportunity. If your town is swamped with lawyers, it probably won't work to get a law degree if you want to stay local.

People are still responsible for themselves, or at least they should be. They should make sure they are making wise choices, not just fun choices.

As far as performers go, sure, there should be performers, but they aren't entitled to a certain wage. They make choices to go into debt a certain amount to risk a career that the vast majority do not find success in, at least not financially.

Basically, there are jobs, but you need to know what your local area can support. If you want to be something that your local area doesn't have room for then you must make a choice - do you train for the job and relocate, or do you train for a different position that you can get locally and stay closer to home.

I'm aware that relocating is inconvenient. So is trying to dump your debt on my shoulders and demand businesses pay ridiculous wages for entry level jobs.