by Dave Roberts » Fri May 16, 2014 6:51 am
ET, I want to respond to another part of your posts--educational opportunity. I may agree with you on many points. First, I heartily agree that not every career requires a college education. There are many technical and service careers that do not. Some of the greatest needs in our area are for long-distance truck drivers and for qualified industrial electricians. One of my best friends is a retired industrial electrician specializing in control systems for the surface mining industry. He was brought from West Virginia because his company could not find local people who had the math and technical skills to do the job. The technical skills needed now require excellent math skills and electronic skills that are not being taught. Unfortunately, many of those who enroll in technical programs in electricity, electronics, and computer networking have to spend a year just getting remedial math and science skills they did not get in high school.
Second, there are numerous grant and loan programs out there, some of them are federal and others are state and local grants. Pell Grants allow the poorest students to attend higher education institutions with taxpayer funding for much of their education. The requirements, however, are stiff, and some of the students involved lose their grants because they do not pass course work quickly enough to continue. Others do receive a large portion of their educational expenses at very little cost. Almost all schools participate in the Pell Grants.
Third, the Stafford Loans are probably the most troubling area. Schools admit students and offer them combinations of scholarships and loans to bring the immediate costs of education down where they are affordable. When our son was in the application process a few years ago, he had some of these offers that included loans. The way that colleges promote these makes it appear that your education should not cost a great deal, but they do leave debilitating debt on the far end. One of the reasons medical care is as costly as it is comes from the amount of debt the average new doctor has. Many of them come out of school owing as much as $200,000 for their educations. Medical costs then must allow them to meet their payment schedules. One of my personal beefs is that if large corporations can borrow money today for as little as 0.75%, shouldn't we do the same for our students.
I'm glad you had the option to be able to spread your education across a wider span and have employer help in getting it. It is a rare employer in today's market that will provide help for their employees to get their education. (How many WalMart and McDonald's employees get any assistance?)
Many of the traditional jobs that allowed my generation to earn money for education have dried up. I was a radio DJ while in college. Radio is now automated. As a seminary student, I did building maintenance. Now that is contracted to outside services rather than employing students. I also was an RA in a residence hall in college making a little money that way. However, I have to credit my parents at helping me to get my start. They began saving for my education shortly after I was born. We did the same for our son. Many families do not have that opportunity. In my area. 20% of all familes are described as "food insecure." They will not be saving for their children's educations.