Swimming with the Student Loan Sharks

Ya wanna know what's REALLY sad? The job I'm doing now doesn't require a university degree. Both of my freakin' bachelor's degrees have little bearing on how I'm keeping bread on the table. And, frankly, I've got a higher standard of living than when I was teaching. Heck, my brother is making over $60k a year as corporate sales support for wireless networks... WITHOUT a college or university degree. So, at least in Canada, if you can't earn or save enough money for higher education, there are still options out there. I know, however, the US job situation is a bit more dire.

"Getting any kind of job now is difficult without a college degree; getting one that pays enough to live on, without a college degree is all but impossible."

This isn't a cause, this is a result. This is the result of 'everyone should go to college', so that the market is so *glutted* with useless degrees that if you don't have one, it's like you're missing something standard. This is the result of the government trying to give everyone 'advanced education' in some well-meaning intent to ... well... do something unrealistic.

Universal education is magnificent... but that doesn't need to progress to the point of college. I agree that the government should help provide everyone the choice for the basic education you need to succeed as an adult ... but that doesn't include college.

However, the problem becomes that when the government *tried* to make that include college, it adversely affected the business world so that it *seemed* more like one needed a college education, making everything quite tangled up.

Based on my observations of Sallie Mae etc. destroying people's lives, I am inclined to judge them harshly. YMMV, according to your own experiences.

All right, that's fair enough... but seeing as Sallie Mae is an example of GOVERNMENT, not of business, why would you be blaming business? I mean, sure. As of 2004, it's a business in its own right, but for over 30 years prior to that, it was a 'government-sponsored' business, which was in the business of handing out *government* loans, ruled over by government oversight committees, and basically under government control.

The 2005 law making private student loans the same as government loans was in part a result of privatizing the main government loan granter, and leveling the playing field. I view this as a good thing, because with the damage now becoming more and more apparent, it's more likely the law will change for the better. Or at least, the law probably will change for the better, provided people sensibly blame the government regulations and charity that caused the problem, rather than senselessly blaming corporations.

You're absolutely right. Sallie Mae, the *government creation*, is the core example of what's ruining people's lives.

Which is why we shouldn't blame corporations for this.