Is The Price of Education Worth It?

          Paying for higher education currently, is a feat, next to graduating. Students in state colleges are using loans more and more due to the disappearing governmental grants. Although the loans assist students in allowing them to pay for tuition, they also pile up, waiting for the student to graduate or to leave school long enough for them to kick in. A study done by The Project on Student Debt at The Institute for College Access and Success found that students who graduated in 2011 with a bachelor's degree had an average of $26,000 in debt. (You can check the full article, Students graduating with more student loan debt). That is like paying a car payment on a new Toyota Carolla. The loans, that are meant to help you, actually seem to work against you. They enable you to finish school, but also make finding a job an even more serious decision. In the current state of our economy, job finding can be compared to finding a needle in a hay stack. A great example of this is of my close friend, who will remain nameless. She graduated about two years ago and has yet to find a job. She has student loans that have already demanded attention and pays for them by working at a bank. If it wasn't for the constant threat of an endless loan payment looming over her head, she would lose the motivation for looking for a job in her chosen career. (If you're interested here's a site that helps with loan repayment, its called Educational Debt Manual).
           My husband will be graduating in Winter 2012 and sadly, he's not a stranger to loans. He has attended CSUSB for over 8 years and had to make the same hard decision in the last two years; to accept large unsubsidized loans that would cover one year's tuition and then some or to accept subsidized loans that may not cover the whole year. How backwards is that?! You as a borrower, don't have much of a choice. You could choose one and have enough money to pay for that year's tuition, but create a loan that clones itself instantly, or you could choose the other and scrape up money that you don't have and hope to pay the first quarter's tuition on time before they drop your classes.
          Depending on loans is stressful. There are students who choose to continue with classes after they graduate with their BA just to avoid paying loans. We go into college in hopes to leave with a well rounded education and to receive the job of our dreams. Due to large amounts of debt, those hopes may have to take a back seat. McDonald's here we come!!!

Stress, the List Goes On and On

The list is endless when it comes to the number of things college students stress about. Grades are obviously number one on the list but tuition is right behind it in second. It does not take a genius to realize that tuition rates have risen astronomically these past years. In an article on articlebase.com they come up with three “solutions” for college students; 1- student loans, 2-student credit cards, 3- part time job. These solutions are old, and have not helped out the majority of college students with stress over tuition. I have two jobs, one full time, one part time while going to school full time. If I wanted just a quick fix I would take out a large loan or put all my expenses on my credit card and  just spend the rest of my life (slight exaggeration) paying it off. I would much rather work just my one part time job, not worry about tuition and just focus on my classes and the material I need to learn. Instead I am working like a dog trying to keep up with my classes, getting average grades, paying above average rates.  

                Stress is a leading factor that brings students to drop out. In an article entitled StudentDrop Out Rates Linked to High Stress Over Finances states, "The conventional wisdom is that students leave school because they aren't willing to work hard and aren't really interested in more education," Jean Johnson, executive vice president of Public Agenda, told the New York Times. "What we found was almost precisely the opposite. Most work and go to school at the same time, and most are not getting financial help from their families or the system itself." We need to become more active in our educational system to insure that the reason for the rise of tuition is for the better of the students; because right now it is not. The rapid rise of tuition has just given college students a bigger burden to carry.

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The Fight For Higher Education

The Fight For Higher Education- Prop. 30 or 38

By Erica James on October 18, 2012 

          Due to recent, and enormous budget cuts in higher education, voting this year is a must. The threat of an additional $6 billion cut looms as the fight between Propositions 30 and 38 ensues. What to vote for? As students, educating ourselves on beneficial information is not something we’re unfamiliar with. That’s why I wanted to enlighten a few on the benefits of learning about each.

          The argument for and against Prop. 30 and 38 are extensive. I don't want to get into it because then I would be swaying people's decisions. If you click here then you can inform yourselves on unbiased info on Proposition 30. Here is also an article that talks about student's views on both the propositions.Our colleges are telling us what to vote for, but we need to be proactive in trying to understand each proposition. It may take some time to compare notes, but that is the only way to make a clear decision.

          Higher education has way too much to lose to competitors. Students, instructors, and all the other people who work in some aspect of education, have way too much to lose. I

          I remember when school cost $1,200 a quarter in 2004 and parking passes were $80. Now, eight years and millions of dollars of cuts later, tuition has almost tripled. This fall has definitely been a trying time for me and many students. The feeling of discouragement seems to burden most. How are we supposed to feel about education, when massive amounts of money are ripped away from our grasp? Since 2008 higher education has been on a slippery slope and the only way to level the playing field is for us to vote for what will help higher education. You decide.

One Really Expensive Hat

“And this mess is so big, And so deep and so tall, We cannot pick it up. There is no way at all!” ― Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat. We all grew up hearing these words from Dr. Seuss’ classic book. Something that we have heard since our elementary years is applicable to today’s college education. Getting a college degree is crucial in today’s society, but it comes with a price, a very expensive price. The prices do vary for each individual, as we will discuss in further detail in posts to come. But right now, I would just like to focus on “the mess” or in other words rapid rise of tuition at four year universities. Here is a link to a report titled “Trends in College Spending, 1999-2009”. In the report, the section of “Trends in Employee Compensation 2002-2009” notes, “Wage and benefit gaps have widened, with public institutions spending more on benefits at the expense of wage increases, while private institutions have managed a better balance between the two. Benefit costs per full-time public employee increased by about 5 percent per year, a rate that is two to three times the growth at private institutions, and far exceeds growth in the average salary per employee at public institutions”. This is one of many main reasons why college students are becoming buried more and more in debt. I am a firm believer in compensation for teachers and professors, but there is a line drawn that perhaps has already been crossed. I feel I should mention that I am a college student going to school to be a communications professor. I see this information to be vital for you to know before I state my opinion on compensations for full time professors at four year universities as you would think my opinion on the matter would be biased, but it is not. A teacher is known to be someone who wants to help their students succeed in certain aspects of life. Education is one of the obvious aspects, but student’s finances should be a concern as well. From the information that I gathered it seems that our educational leaders have left their moral nest and have become more selfish than selfless. I am also aware that teachers do not get to make these decisions by themselves. Although, there is the argument that they are not denying the benefits that they are earning or informing their students of this injustice. In no way am I advocating for teachers to be underpaid, rather I am advocating for students to not be ripped off because professors and administrators (mostly administrators) need or want more money in their pension. The hat or cap we will wear on our graduation day will be a combination of one of greatest days of achievement and  the greatest day of failure. As we walk across the stage we will have our degree in one hand and our mound of debt in another, making the day a little more bitter than sweet. I am not here just to inform you or rant about these issues, I will post information about voting and other ways to be a more active member of society in posts to come. Stay tuned so we can pick up “this mess” and wear our caps proudly!

Assignment 2

Peer Group Reconnaissance (Erica James)
#1-Michele McNeil -Politics K-12 Blog http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/
-Education Week produces the content.
-This page talks about the president seeing education as an investment in our future. The blog also talks about how teachers are feeling the hurt. I believe this blog fits with our topic well.
-There are recent comments that are posted on a side bar and there are other comments on the bottom. It's news centered.
-They publish content many times a week.
-They have Twitter.

#2 Abel Herreo & Conni Scott- Another Pre-election Conversion for Education Blog
 http://www.tsta.org/grading-texas/school-budget-cuts/another-pre-election-conversion-for-education#more-1001
-There are multiple blogs showing content like education reformers and legislator rewriting anti-education, but there are no comments.
-I believe the motivation is personal interest.
-The content seems to be updated weekly.
-They have Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flikr.

#3Claire Cardona- Job Ratings Up http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2012/10/texas-poll-finds-romney-ahead-of-obama-perry-job-approval-ratings-up.html/ 
-Dallas Morning News
-There's video on the site and other political articles.
-This site does not directly correlate to our blog.
-They have Facebook, Twitter, Google
-There's not many comments.

#4 Amanda Greene-Senate Cuts Could Hurt South East NC Schools 
-The content is produced by Star News Online
-The blog is dedicated to K-12 and higher education.
-I believe this blog fits with our social issue.
-There are links to other posts and school Galleries.
-There are links to Twitter, Face Book. and other social forums.

Assignment 2

　

Below is a link to a blog made by Phoebe Connelly. The content this site produces is very similar to my social issue. The author is reporting facts and uses testimonies to help support her case. This is a personal interest to Phoebe. The viewers of her blog have taken over, and her replies are limited. The threads became somewhat hostile and harsh, definitely showing a clash of opinions. The blog has the presence of twitter, faceboook, youtube and g+.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/student-loans-basically-ruined-life-yahoo-news-readers-105332697.html

Below is a link to Yi Ding's blog who is a student that is in debt. The content of this blog has posts that are directly related to my social issue, but most have to do with common finance problems. Yi's posts are of personal interest and news related material. Yi posts frequently about financial issues. There is not presence of social media in Yi's blog.

http://blog.studentindebt.com/

　

Below is a link to usatoday's website on an atricle regarding student debt, written by Mary Beth Marklein. Mary's article is news related material about student loans relating directly to my social issue. The article is for the public good and is biased towards high loan interest. Twitter, facebook and youtube are all present on the site.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012/09/26/report-shows-increase-in-those-with-student-debt-loans/57846684/1

　

The link below is to Georgia State Univeristies newspaper article on unfair distribution of financial aid, written by Sherice Hayes. Sherice specifcally talks about FAFSA and where all of the money goes. This is an article of personal interest to Sherice. She uses facts that are unbiased, but also uses biased facts and opinions to show her position on the social issue. Facebook, twitter and g+ are all present on the webpage.

http://www.gsusignal.com/2.14076/unfair-distribution-of-financial-aid-favors-ivy-league-schools-1.1951348