Frazz by Jef Mallett for September 08, 2022

You can choose up to a point, but you’re pretty much locked in once you choose your major.

If colleges went tuition free, who would pay for all those new and mostly unnecessary dorms? . . . er . . . um . . . oh yeah.

Agree with premise of 1st 3 panels. That’s the way it was supposed to go: 4-5 years to get set a course, then up anchor and away. Now many courses offered seem kinda amorphous as to practical use. [Decades ago, a college prof was allowed to offer a 6 credit, 2-semester course on Madonna the singer. Very practical] The time to launch eventually stretched to 7-8 years – the colleges alleging that extra time allowed one to absorb more of the ’college experience. That naturally morphed into just toddling degreeless off into the sunset, leaving behind only major debt. Meanwhile costs rose phenomenally to support questionable campus expansions, profs were encouraged to ‘publish’ often, and were replaced in the practical classroom by TA’s, who were barely qualified themselves.

They say wine improves with age. But it must be carefully handled from the vine to the bottle.

I think a higher education benefits both the individual and the country in which they live. Since it is a shared benefit, shouldn’t those who benefit foot the bill?

America. Where a teenager is “irresponsible” for taking out a loan that his parents and all the adults told him he should take out. But the one who loaned $100,000 to a teenager with no job isn’t “irresponsible” at all, and suffers no consequences.

“How much was your loan?” “$50,000”“How much have you paid?” “$70,000”“How much do you still owe?” “$130,000”

I’m so old, I remember when EVERYBODY thought loan-sharking was wrong.

Don’t worry, Biden will forgive your legally agreed to debt, so you can continue to buy the latest $1000 iPhone every year.

I’d hate to be a 3rd generation fireman and expect my kid to become a firefighter.

She gets to own a house. (Once she pays off her mortgage.) She gets to own a car. (Once she pays for the loan.) Wow. You can do that for a lot of things.

(She seems to think that her education was worth the money here, right?)

Silly, you do get to use your education before you finish paying off the student loans. I mean, it’s not like you don’t get to use your house before you pay off the mortgage.

Speak for yourself

There are so many alternate ways of getting your education. You don’t have to go to the most expensive out-of-state university just because they have a good party rating. Community colleges (much cheaper) are a good way to get your prerequisites out of the way (just make sure they’ll transfer), then get your required classes from the university. Oh, then there’s actually WORKING while you’re in college, going part-time while you can in the first couple of years. You don’t HAVE to have your degree in 4 years. A hard thing to swallow for some kids today, I imagine.. I did it that way since Mom and Dad couldn’t afford to pay my tuition. It took me a few years longer than originally planned, but had only $10,000 in loans, an easy amount to pay off. The other thing to ponder is why don’t more of the students get into the blue collar jobs? Minimal training costs.. bigger paychecks than a lot of careers requiring degrees. College isn’t, and shouldn’t be, for everybody. I remember a local high school here where the principal bragged that they had placed every graduate in college. I wonder how many of them are still there 3 years later. The biggest question I have about the loan absolution: What will happen to students in future years? Will we continue to pay for everyone’s tuition from now on? Not the way to go.. Students need to be a little more proactive in funding their education.. not to mention being smarter in their career choices. Degrees in liberal arts, women’s studies and art and the like aren’t very practical. Big costs for little return.

If my tax money went to pay off your student loans, I want half your salary for the next twenty years.

I once had a conversation with a woman who works at a VERY high paying job at a major tech company. When I asked her where she went to college, she was embarrassed to say—it’s a small public school. I asked why she was embarrassed—1. Facts are facts. The facts they teach at Harvard are the same facts that they teach at community colleges. 2. Obviously going to a non-prestigious school didn’t hurt her job prospects. People stupidly bought into the college scam. Parents wanted to brag that their kids went to big name schools. I didn’t attend my dream college. I haven’t owned my dream car. I don’t own my dream house. I’ve never taken my dream vacation. Why the heck should I pay for yours?

I paid mine off as I was in school, but I was working full-time and taking a full load and it was a LOT cheaper back in the mid-70s. I am absolutely THRILLED for those who have that $$ burden removed from their chances for future success.

Here in America, we are absolutely determined to ensure that the other guy doesn’t get a leg up on us. And we’ll far sooner pull him down than lift ourselves up.

My parents never contributed a dime to my college. I got through with grants, loans, on- and off-campus jos, assistantships for grad school. After college, I lived hand-to-mouth to make the payments. And my loans are paid off, but I don’t recommend that everyone pay them off the way I did. After a major car accident, when I got the settlement from the other guy’s insurance company, I called “Sallie Mae” and said “How much do I need to pay to never hear from you people again?”

Four year college is not the end all be all. Most people don’t need it. There are trade and vocational school. You can learn to be a plumber, electrician, machinist, or auto mechanic. These are all good jobs that require intelligence and training and pay well. They are looked down on the culture of the four year degree for no real reason.

Don’t forget we also need electricians and carpentry and many other things to be done too. Many if not all of them can pay very well.