There Are 101 Americans With Over Million In Student Loan Debt
08-28-2018, 07:39 AM
My oldest brother started college in the fall of 1971. He was the son of two parents who had never went to college. It was definitely reasonable back then, and I'm not sure he had any debt at the end. He bought a house a year or two after graduation.
We forget that the college boom was all massively subsidized by the federal government. It started with the GI Bill and giving all kinds of money to soldiers (this still exists). Then it was extended with federal loans, starting in the mid 1960's. Once the subsidies came in, they realized they could raise their prices and not lose customers. Then they had more money, so they started spending it on more bureaucrats, more overhead, and more things they didn't need.
Of course, many jobs didn't "require" a college degree. This includes many jobs that "require" a college degree now. The only reason they "require" one is because so many people have one. Employers didn't "require" them for jobs in the 1930's and 1940's because hardly anybody had a college degree. This included jobs in management, journalism, and others. Some of these people did great work as well. Lamar Muse, the founding CEO of Southwest Airlines, didn't have a college degree, for example.
The rise in college degrees has also lead in many businesses to the rise of what has been called the New Class. Basically these are people like human resources, middle managers, and others. They have degrees, so they are "too good" for menial work and "must have" office jobs so they are not "underemployed." Basically these people send most of their workday pushing papers and going to meetings. They are usually a drain on productivity. I work in health care, which has a lot of them and is why health care is so ridiculously expensive.
We forget that the college boom was all massively subsidized by the federal government. It started with the GI Bill and giving all kinds of money to soldiers (this still exists). Then it was extended with federal loans, starting in the mid 1960's. Once the subsidies came in, they realized they could raise their prices and not lose customers. Then they had more money, so they started spending it on more bureaucrats, more overhead, and more things they didn't need.
Of course, many jobs didn't "require" a college degree. This includes many jobs that "require" a college degree now. The only reason they "require" one is because so many people have one. Employers didn't "require" them for jobs in the 1930's and 1940's because hardly anybody had a college degree. This included jobs in management, journalism, and others. Some of these people did great work as well. Lamar Muse, the founding CEO of Southwest Airlines, didn't have a college degree, for example.
The rise in college degrees has also lead in many businesses to the rise of what has been called the New Class. Basically these are people like human resources, middle managers, and others. They have degrees, so they are "too good" for menial work and "must have" office jobs so they are not "underemployed." Basically these people send most of their workday pushing papers and going to meetings. They are usually a drain on productivity. I work in health care, which has a lot of them and is why health care is so ridiculously expensive.