Some observations on the end of the university as we know it

A while back I was watching a news report about some Black guy who had completed college in DC. He had a dual major in Women’s Studies and Black Studies, had something like $89,000 in student loan debt, and could not find a job commensurate with his great learning. He was, of course, an idiot.

A lot of people disagree with me but I think students loans are a dreadful way to pay for education and there should be a forgiveness program on such loans as a part of a national educational policy. So if you get a masters in molecular biology or aerospace engineering, the loans should be forgiven.

If you are $100,000 in student loan debt and you have a degree in Madonna Studies, go back to Occupy, do not pass Go, do not collect $200 dollars.

The failure of the university system in all its diverse glory has been publicly catalogued by the Occupy Movement. At many Occupy gatherings lists of people’s student loans appeared in the early days: $100,000, $80,000, etc.: thats a lot of pizza, beer and Facebook whining. 

Now, the response to the failure of the University system is being articulated by the kids, White high school kids of course, since they are least valued and least helped. (A while back I picked up an old book called something like The Millionaire Next Door [it might not have been that one]. It pointed out that kids who get the most from their parents often turn out to be the most worthless and dependent….)

So here are two abstracts I wrote from CBS News reports, both describing a small part of the restructuring of American education:

(1) “Students Forgo College for More Secure Plans”, in June 27, 2012.

In Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, White High School students, realizing that 49% of recent university graduates are unemployed, that college costs are soaring, and there is no financial aid for them, are redirecting their plans towards vocational schools. One White student noted she was planning to go to technical school to learn to operate medical imaging systems. She observed that such jobs would stay in the community. One White student noted that she gave up her hope to be a school teacher because she could never afford college and repay the loans on a teacher’s salary. Instead, she will go to beauty college. She notes the job she hopes to have cannot be outsourced. [But if the White students cannot get it their state’s universities, who is going there?]

(2) “If You Want Diversity, You Have to Pay for It”, in CBS Evening News, June 26, 2012.

Arab-American Donna Shalala, former HHS Secretary under Pres. Clinton and now President of the University of Miami, argues that the demands of universities contradict the requirement for budget cuts. She noted that politicians and universities want diversity [i.e., subsidized or free Affirmative Action education for less- or un-qualified college students instead of better qualified European-American students who pay full tuition], but diversity is not free and is in fact very expensive. She said that if universities want diversity they will have to fund it and pay for it.

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I have read essays by SSPX Bishop Richardson and he flatly advises parents  not to send their kids to university, which will just poison their minds, unless they are getting a degree in some narrow useful field. It is interesting that White high school kids in Pennsylvania, who never heard of him, have come to the same conclusion.

The American University System is dead. And I for one do not mourn it.