Professor Stratman,I don't doubt your calling to ministry of the mind for one second. You seemed to rationalize your teaching to students and that is not needed. My angst is towards the institution or the "man". Can you change the world one mind at a time? YES. Will the university setting as we know it in the states be the only place that engineers, lawyers, writers and teachers are prepared? I hope not.
Is it possible to have a different educational vehicle without dumbing down the process?
As for the "good debt and bad debt" statement, I'm not so sure. That sounds like a statement that works for the wealthy even though I have used it. So many of my friends in their mid 30's are up to their eyeballs in college debt and it has financially paralyzed them. The costs are only rising and like the church, the university appears to be rigid and slow to reach a new generation of thinkers.
In my particular case I did learn a bunch of life lessons in the Arkansas fraternity house, but I'm not sure the classroom piece was worth Mom and Dad's money (even if I would have tried harder) . I could have learned how to pay bills, be responsible and cook dinner in the Army too.
Summary: YES to HIGHER EDUCATION and YES to LOWER COST HIGH EDUCATION.
1 comment:
Dear Nephews,
Finally a subject I can speak too!
Good Debt, Bad Debt....
Average student debt coming out of college currently is 15,000. The rule of thumb is that you can handle an amount of debt equal to what you will earn as income your first year out of college. (Not that you can pay it back that quickly) So if you are going into a high paying field, let's say with an Oil Company, you can be comfortable with more student debt. For we teachers and clergy, we need to keep it low.
Student Debt is considered good debt because it typically has a low interest rate, and has been applied towards something (an education) that has a monetary pay back. But don't get too comfortable with the "good debt" concept and pay very close attention to the terms of that loan. Debt over 6-8% should be paid off quickly. Any loan, and some student loans do, that has a variable rate, needs to be closely watched and fixed if possible. These can get out of control.(think current mortgage crisis)
I'm for a good liberal arts college education, but I sure wish they would include money management as one of the required intro classes!
The tax aunt.
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