I first started teaching university classes in 2008, and let me tell you I have learned a lot about the university system from being part of it this long. I have learned that some of the rumors are true that you believe and use as rationale to think that college is a scam. I have also learned a few other things. I learned that the first student loans the Biden administration forgave were for the ART institute. I asked the president, or whomever is impersonating him on Twitter, why no STEM loans were paid off and postulated it was perhaps because those people could find jobs and pay their own loans. Everyone should. If I was not consulted in the terms of the loan, why should I be obligated to pay the debt? Especially if the debtor is not. Nevada's students are not the highest grade ore you can dig up, and so we have tons of people attending university in Nevada who are not ready to actually achieve, succeed and prosper, and it puts a burden on the taxpayer and the professor to bring them up to snuff. Also, I don't know where the extra money went. It certainly doesn't make it into the classroom or my bank account. We have some professors who do extremely well and a horde of officers that waste our substance and harass us at our work, but that's another topic altogether.
Students are not ready to be here. A few weeks back, I went out to exercise my second amendment rights with a family friend who retired from the county school district. Among other interesting things, he confirmed that the Clark County School District did indeed force him while he was still teaching to pass students if they came to class a sufficient number of times. You don't have to pass the tests, submit the homework or even participate. Just attend, and you can get a C. This means that we have college students in Nevada who learned the square root of squat who are able to get into classes in Nevada Higher Education because our graduates have special privileges in college acceptance. I can't find an electronic copy of the article, but I share with my students an old copy of the Review-Journal that shows that 71% are not college ready, and that was in 2009.
Students abuse funding. Last summer, I noticed that every student in my Chemistry 108 (Nursing chemistry) class had two of the following items at least: an iPhone, an apple watch, and an iPad. When I asked how they could all afford those things, they unabashedly confessed that they bought them with their student financial aid. They were all hoping that, after getting student loans, they could buy frivolous and tangential things with that money and then have Biden forgive their student debt. I heard from the finance office that people are cheating the system by taking out credit cards in false names, paying for classes, pocketing the financial aid and never paying off the cards. I dont' know how widespread it is, but I know it happens. And it sickens me.
College degrees are a qualification for a job but no guarantee of a lifestyle let alone a position. Unless you are going into STEM or something highly specialized that requires collegiate training, college is a luxury rather than a good choice. How many English majors do we need? How many business majors? How many of these things have I actually learned while working for a PBS affiliate, for a rental car company, or in a logistics warehouse that were never taught at university? You can in many cases earn significantly more money learning a trade instead. In fact, statistics show that men are less likely to finish on time (if they ever graduate) than women, and that 71% of college students (female) in Nevada finish on time. Now I could tell you that most of my female students are still in traditionally female roles. Most chemistry students of the feminine persuasion are headed to teaching or nursing or some related health care support role. Very few of them are going to medical school or into laboratory science. I can name some, and they are spectacular, but most of the female students are not in STEM. Therefore, they are wasting their time getting a degree for a job that pays less per hour than Panda Express.
My paternal grandfather always believed that he was stymied by not having a college degree and insisted on his children earning one. My father never uses his and did quite well. I think that college degrees give you OPTIONS. But what they don't give me is a return on my investment. Politicians constantly cry that "education is an investment in our future". Well, investments pay the INVESTOR, and if I have to pay off THEIR loans, that sounds more like a long con than an investment. As long as we have unprepared students learning irrelevant programs and spending money on unrelated items, they should have to pay off their own loans. You should have to do your own homework. Unless the job you seek actually requires a degree, a degree is probably a waste of time, effort and money, particularly the more you have to retake classes, and I see tons of people retake classes who don't finish the second go around either.
Too many of our students are cheating their way through life and themselves out of a good life. Several years ago, a student came to me one night and told me she would do ANYTHING in my class to get an A. When I asked her why she didn't do the homework I assigned, I understood that she didn't mean what she said. Her lab partner, who overheard this, confirmed that this young lady was cheating her way through university and found me unexpectedly formidable. If we do not ask them to do their own work, pay their own bills while at university, who will do the work and pay the bills after they leave? It is hard to tell students no. I am frequently accused of bigotry, sexism, or inappropriate conduct, but only because students are trying to game the system. Often it would be less work and more fulfilling if they did the actual work required and actually earned it. That's why I don't think their loans should be forgiven. Ever. Most of the ones who default have no intention of paying anyway, and if you lead with loan forgiveness, we'll have even more students come here who are unprepared to succeed, unwilling to work, and unable to make anything out of our charity. And costs will go ever higher, financially, ecumenically, and psychologically. Mark my word.
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