The Yahoo Finance website has an interesting article on the student loan problem which it describes as a "bubble". In this case, as colleges and universities increase their tuition and fees, students have to go further into debt which they may not be able to afford. If a large number of students are unable to pay off their loans, we may see a default on the scale of the sub-prime mortgage bubble when it burst. The article can be accessed here: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/student-loan-bubble-putting-hundreds-colleges-risk-125000050.html
This article is based on work by Richard Kneedler, who was president of Franklin and Marshall college, and opinion pieces by Mark Talyor (currently Chair of the Religion Dept at Columbia University) which have appeared on the Bloomberg news website. One article is on "How Competition Is Killing Higher Education" which can be accessed here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-17/competition-is-killing-higher-education-part-1-.html And "Is the College Cave Age About to End?" which focuses on the problem of over-specialization; see: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-20/is-the-college-cave-age-about-to-end-part-2-.html The need to raise tuition and fees and cut back on support, Taylor argues, can be attributed in part to university spending that isn't really needed but is mostly an exercise in image management. After all, who doesn't want their university to appear highly ranked on U.S. News or the Academic Ranking of World Universities? See: http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010.jsp Or the Times Higher Education World University Rankings? See: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html This raises the question of who will bailout the universities if they cannot make their debt payments (i.e., mortgages, loans, other financial obligations, etc.)? Will they have to close? Or might they just downsize? What will the once tenured family do? But there is good news. Part-time faculty and others with advanced degress may qualify for food stamps; see: http://chronicle.com/article/From-Graduate-School-to/131795/ The figure from the article is either interesting or frightening, depending upon how stable one's current position is: http://chronicle.com/img/photos/biz/36-foodstamps-graphic1.gif But listen, if your university closes or you're downsized, at least you'll have food stamps and medicaid if you're in the U.S.. That is, if those programs aren't substantially cut. -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=17949 or send a blank email to leave-17949-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
