Student loans in US have hit a record high of $1.2 trillion

[Masark]

Democrats?

I'd personally say both major parties in the USA. They both fit pretty neatly into the span of policy occupied by the Conservatives up here and there's no representation in government of anything like the Liberals, much less the NDP.

[Kruncholyo]

How come US has higher tax income than Canada yet education is still way more expensive there?

Administrative bloat is a big part of it:
http://chronicle.com/article/Adminis...ve-28-/144519/

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...olumn/5531461/

http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvan...#axzz3FZ5g5Xt3

Also, massively overpaid deans of do-nothingness and their overpaid staffs:
http://www.pugetsound.edu/about/dive...rsity-officer/
http://www.reed.edu/institutional_diversity/
http://gsas.columbia.edu/news/andrea...emic-diversity

[Independent voter]

How come US has higher tax income than Canada yet education is still way more expensive there?

I was reading an article about it. It's mostly due to salary and benefit increases and governments funding education less. Prices have been going up for a while. If you go to your state school and you're a resident of that state, it's usually reasonable. And the community colleges are even cheaper and you can do two years of your degree at community college.

[devark]

A loan is a loan. Whether its a student loan from the government, from the bank for a house or even a small loan from a payday lender. Debt is debt and it needs to be paid.

You don't understand how Stafford loans work do you...

[Thes]

I was reading an article about it. It's mostly due to salary and benefit increases. Prices have been going up for a while. If you go to your state school and you're a resident of that state, it's usually reasonable. And the community colleges are even cheaper and you can do two years of your degree at community college.

Do you get a degree from 2 years of schooling or is it part of a degree?

[Adam Jensen]

Don't want to be in debt? Don't get a loan to study Arts or crap like that xD.

I got a loan to study air traffic control

Then the government shut down and the FAA did a hiring freeze

Then the FAA opened up their jobs to people without degrees and ignored mine

AINT IT GRAND?

[PickleballAce]

Do you get a degree from 2 years of schooling or is it part of a degree?

It's not much, but typically community/junior colleges will offer Associate's Degree programs, and credits earned can be transferred to four-year schools.

[Iamanerd]

Student loans are ridiculous right now, granted I'm happy I had a full paid ride for my nuclear engineering degree but I was stupid and started doing Computer Science after and realized I wasn't learning shit as I'd learn more on my own at home so I dropped it and continued coding at home. So I have a small amount of student loan debt of like 5K which is shit, but I was only doing CS for 3 semesters before realizing the school sucked and I learned more at home.

All in all college should be free as we benefit from having an educated populace and right now my younger brother is going to a trade high school and I've been teaching him programming for the past year or so and we're working on a game now all for him to avoid college as he won't be so fortunate like I was with a full paid ride through school.

[Independent voter]

Do you get a degree from 2 years of schooling or is it part of a degree?

You can get an "associate's degree" for 2 years. I always felt it's not taken seriously like a bachelors.

And community colleges have like a stigma at four year schools, it's like people think only the poor go to community colleges or something. Why I say this is that well off people hardly ever go to community college.

[vindicatorx]

Yeah. Here they just start demanding repayment shortly after school regardless of your ability to find a job or not.

6 months but you can deffer payments until you have a job. I graduated in May and don't have to make payments till January.

[Deleted]

You can get an "associate's degree" for 2 years. I always felt it's not taken seriously like a bachelors.

And community colleges have like a stigma at four year schools, it's like people think only the poor go to community colleges or something. Why I say this is that well off people hardly ever go to community college.

People take bachelor degrees seriously?

[Hexian]

Yeah. Here they just start demanding repayment shortly after school regardless of your ability to find a job or not.

No they don't. You can defer your loans for up to 6 months post graduation.

[Independent voter]

People take bachelor degrees seriously?

Yes, at least for jobs they require a bachelor degree and they rarely specify which kind of degree. If you have a philosophy degree, no one is going to take you serious until you get a doctorates but it will still be a 4 year degree to HR.

[Wells]

When government gets involved, they screw up an industry.

Government doesn't mandate that everyone has a cell phone. Because government stays out of it, the cost of high quality cell phones collapses until everyone, even the poor can afford them.

Cell phones only work because government is involved.... Who do you think keeps all those frequencies nice and organized?

Government decided that health care is a right. By doing so, they ironically TAKE AWAY health care from the poor and needy. They subsidize health care, create and manage industries like health insurance, and the bottom line of it all that is a TON of money pours into the health care industry. Economics 101 says when you do that, costs skyrocket.

Government run healthcare out performs private across the world.

[Adam Jensen]

Yes, at least for jobs they require a bachelor degree and they rarely specify which kind of degree. If you have a philosophy degree, no one is going to take you serious until you get a doctorates.

"Required: BS in business or related course, masters prefered. Three years experience, not negotiable. Position: McDonalds Burger Flipper"

I swear, entry level jobs are starting to look like that shit right there.

[Wells]

I tell kids in my family that you're better off learning a trade at this point. Unless you're trying to get a degree that can get you a job in, say, the oil industry I wouldn't waste the time or money. Then there's the whole liberal indoctrination aspect of college...

College is still an net increase in earnings over not going.

Don't want to be in debt? Don't get a loan to study Arts or crap like that xD.

All art degrees are 6% of graduates. Find a new scape goat. I recommend business majors (22%).

[Lenonis]

Student loans are a symptom not a cause. The cause is that college tuition rates are rising far faster than wages, employment, etc.

I find it distressing that there are a whole bunch of people who are going to sit here and declare which degrees have value and which degrees are useless. Guess what, society needs artists, musicians, writers, etc. So get off your high horse and stop pretending that everyone getting a MBA would create a functional society.

[Deleted]

My better half is struggling with student loans right now and it's a stress on both of us. School is absurdly expensive these days for what you get out of it.

Change scenery and study for free, then :P

Some countries, such as US or the UK, are too poor to provide free education, but a lot of countries still offer it for free or for very little.

[Conspicuous Cultist]

It's why I'm not bothering with college unless I plan on being two things

1. A engineer

or

2. A doctor

It's not worth going into debt over it and it's just a little less worse than having a child you didn't want to have.

Lots of trades at a trade school and those are generally cheaper anyway so if I ever go back to school it'd be through that route as a welder or something.

[larrakeyah]

All art degrees are 6% of graduates. Find a new scape goat. I recommend business majors (22%).

And the article is exactly saying what i said. Study business and you'll get a job, study arts or "crap like that" (history, education...) and you'll be fucked.

EDIT: I studied business, master in finance and MBA. 0 debt. Delicious liberal (in the US sense) tears. hahaha