Flushing Money Down The College Drain

The irony suddenly dawned on me this afternoon, as I slurped a bowl of soup and gnoshed on a sandwich on the campus of a major east coast university while on a job assignment.  I watched hundreds of wide-eyed, swivel-headed, incoming freshmen, heavily back-packed like Sherpas supporting an Everest climber, wander their way around these soon-to-be-hallowed grounds.  Some four hours earlier, I spoke with my two sons just prior to them leaving for their first day of school, the eldest of which is now a high school freshman.  “In four years, this could be Alex,” I thought to myself, as I enjoyed the parade of newbies continue their ant-like invasion all across the university grounds.  At which point, a news story from earlier in the week regarding the new interest rate program introduced by the federal government on student loans made me gag on my soup and nearly swallow the spoon!  The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the government will generate $184 billion in profits from its college loan programs over the next decade. For 2013 the CBO has projected that the U.S. will make a record $50 billion off federal student loans. I started multiplying each student by $50,000; a very minimal estimate of a total student loan amount necessary to attain a four-year degree.  I arrived at $10 million dollars (200 students) inside of two minutes!  While these kids and those that follow them are certain to be crippled by this immense debt just as they enter the business world, thousands of academics and government employees are padding their pockets at their expense……and that sickens me! 

What really chaps my hide is the fact most of these government workers, and yes, university professors included, are public employee union members.  Others, most notably university chancellors, presidents, deans, and assorted aristocratic-titled administrators, are not.  Regardless, they’re all living very comfortably, and in many cases, luxuriously, off of students AND parents like me and you, who foot the bill for these ever-increasing, exorbitantly priced educations.  I’m sure you’ve asked yourself:  What’s the alternative?  Well, there are other options, but in the eyes of students and all too often their parents as well, the idea of entering a trade school, community college, or small, on-line or private universities right out of high school can’t even considered!  What will friends and family think?  Little Johnny or Jeannie isn’t smart enough to attend a major university?  Their parents don’t make enough money to pay for tuition? Why would any high school graduate want to go to trade school to be an electrician?  Community college?  That’s for dummies!  A perfect example of this phobia is exemplified in the comedy classic “Caddyshack”, when recent high school graduate/Bushwood Country Club looper Danny Noonan, who thinks he wants to attend law school, is introduced to Judge Elhue Smail’s snooty law clerk protégé, Chuck Schick:

Judge Smails:  “Danny, I’d like you to meet Chuck Schick.  Chuck’s clerking for me over the summer while he’s home from college.” 

Danny:  “Well, I'm going to college, too.”

Chuck (haughtily):  “Really... are you going to Harvard?”

Danny:   “No, St. Copius of northern…....”

Chuck:  “Where?”

Get the picture?  While we’d all love to send Johnny and Jeannie to Harvard, GPA and cost are huge barriers.  GPA notwithstanding, it’s the ridiculous combined costs of tuition, books, computers, room, and board that are budget-breakers.   For an example, review the information below, which I pasted direct from the University of California system website:

Estimated average costs for California residents, 2013-14

Living
on campus

Living
off campus

Tuition and fees*

$13,200

$13,200

Books and supplies

$1,500

$1,500

Health insurance allowance/fee

$1,700

$1,700

Room and board

$13,800

$9,800

Personal/transportation

$2,200

$3,000

TOTAL

$32,400

$29,200

And keep in mind, the estimate above only applies to under-graduate programs.  Better hope to hit the lottery if Johnny or Jeannie plans to pursue an MBA!

Where the hell is all of that dough going?  Well, in 2012, the UC system’s total payroll was $11.2 billion; up 6% from 2011.  Of that amount, 39% went to academic employees, primarily faculty and researchers.  Non-academic staff received the other 61%.  So while state Democratic politicians and UC Regents continue to please poverty publicly, privately UC employees keep increasing their compensation.  Who knew, right?

In closing, I have to feel that our current and future “young skulls full of mush”, a term of endearment associated with our youth coined by Rush Limbaugh which I just love, are not going to enjoy the happiness that a healthy disposable income can bring in your first few years after receiving a degree.  The majority will have an anvil of debt on their shoulders that not allow them the ability to travel, buy a new car, etc, that generations before them were able to experience.  It will take these kids decades to re-pay, if in fact they can ever re-pay the loan balance.  Meanwhile, academics and non-academics will continue to flourish in their public-sector careers and thrive on overly-generous pensions while in retirement………….on the backs of the kids and their parents.  That is not an American Dream, but rather, an American Injustice.