patrick.net

Crap. What is happening to this country. They are squeezing money out of kids to keep up their current life style.

StoutFiles says

Why can't the government get colleges to just lower tuition?

Best way they can reduce tuition is to reduce how much money anyone can borrow to pay for it. Less money available for tuition will cause markets to realign and reduce the cost of education.

But I don't think the goal is affordable education, healthcare, housing. If they wanted that, they'd have that done long ago.

What do you think happens if the university determines that their student base can afford $20,000 and the government comes in and says oh well now we will pay $10,000 of that. Does that change the price? Of course not -- because now the student can afford $20,000 + $10,000 = $30,000 so prices go up.

Eliminate subsidies.
Reduce borrowing limits.

Universities have control over their tuition and costs. As long as they have control over that, and subsidies/borrowing limits are not eliminated/controlled -- you will have a continuing problem.

^^ This is a drastic oversimplification of course but you get the idea.

GUAB says

What do you think happens if the university determines that their student base can afford $20,000 and the government comes in and says oh well now we will pay $10,000 of that. Does that change the price? Of course not -- because now the student can afford $20,000 + $10,000 = $30,000 so prices go up.

Eliminate subsidies.
Reduce borrowing limits.

Universities have control over their tuition and costs. As long as they have control over that, and subsidies/borrowing limits are not eliminated/controlled -- you will have a continuing problem.

^^ This is a drastic oversimplification of course but you get the idea.

Is the reason why I'm always against government subsidy, guarantees and any backstops.

If I were in charge loans for education would be illegal.

Another no to subsidy example:

In the mid 90ies, I read in a newspaper that 89% of all Germans rent their home. Yes, 11% homeownership. Most of those 11% buy exactly one time in their life and then they never move.

So it is a myth that homeownership is vital for the economy. Germany is the strongest economy in Europe and one of the strongest and biggest in the world despite their puny 11% homeownership rate.

The U.S. government needs to stop subsidizing the real estate market. It does more harm than good. There's nothing wrong with renting. Let's get rid of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, tax credits, the mortgage interest tax deduction, etc. The government should just get completely out of the housing market and let the markets work the way they naturally work.

bubblesitter says

Crap. What is happening to this country. They are squeezing money out of kids to keep up their current life style.

I see this differently.

Every person in the world with an internet connection has the worlds biggest collection of research and learning materials at their finger tips. Just because they choose to tweet and post on Facebook that gets them publicly ostracized and fired, does not mean the internet can't and shouldn't be an effective learning tool.

Folks should be able to take a test for any accreditation or degree, with out ever once stepping foot on a University. I could learn how to do brain surgery on the internet, if I set my mind to it. It wont be from Facebook or Patnet that's for sure, but the knowledge is out there. And it's free!!!

(TOT puts on his green jacket with question-marks and takes off chasing Lesko, while kicking him in the ass)

FortWayne says

Best way they can reduce tuition is to reduce how much money anyone can borrow to pay for it. Less money available for tuition will cause markets to realign and reduce the cost of education.

That would only work if you set a quota on the number of foreign students a college could accept. As the developing world gets richer, more and more people can send their kids to college, but they want an American college, as those are still the best. If you limited financial aid, some colleges prices would drop, but the quality colleges would have plenty of foreign students to keep their seats filled. Without a quota, the result would be that half of colleges would drop their prices, but only the half whose degrees aren't worth much anyway. That is where America's students without rich parents would go.

God Bless America. The Greatest Country in the World (tm).

Doubling from 3.2% to 6.4%. 6.4% is still low plus the interest payment is tax deducible. Sure it's more than a house but if you have 100k in student loans and no job then maybe it's comparable to someone who paid 0 down on a house they couldn't afford in the first place. Plus from what I've seen most students borrow more than just for their tuition and books, they borrow additional funds for living instead of getting a job and working while in school. I wonder what kind of education they are really getting when knowing up front finding a job in certain major areas may prove to be difficult. It's common sense that's for free.

At least with cannibal anarchy they go down fighting.