Why does student debt keep going up and up even as it’s harder and harder to find a good job with a college degree? And why does it seem that the more aid the government and colleges give, the less it helps? Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, shows how politicians and universities have saddled students with dangerous debt…and with little to show for it.
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Script:

I’m guessing you’ve heard of the acclaimed TV show “Game of Thrones.” Seven kingdoms vying for power, plots within plots, watch your back or lose your head. It’s great.

But you’ve probably never heard of a real life drama that I call the “Game of Loans.” That’s a game Washington politicians play on young people, that is, college students, every day.

Just like “Game of Thrones,” the “Game of Loans” has plots within plots, big winners and big losers.

The winners are politicians and colleges. They fool students into thinking that by generously providing ever-larger college loans to cover ever-larger tuition costs, they have earned students’ votes at election time. Why do I say students are fooled? Because it is thanks to the very politicians who promise students more and more aid — in league with the colleges — that college tuition became so expensive in the first place.

Here’s how the game works.

According to Bloomberg News, since 1978 the cost of a college education has gone up by over 1000 percent. Way past the rate of inflation. Tuition alone at many colleges is 20, 40, even 50 thousand dollars a year! So, how do you pay for it? Answer: student loans, loans that the government is happy to give you since they collect the interest. You don’t have to be a finance major to figure out that all these student loans give colleges no incentive to cut costs. Instead, it gives them every incentive to raise costs. Higher tuition obviously means more money for the college.

Now if students were going to college in record numbers to study engineering or computer science or biology — professions with high employment rates — maybe these crazy sums would make some sense. Maybe. But the most common majors are in the social sciences and communications — in subjects like sociology, cinema history and gender studies. Not surprisingly these majors have very high unemployment rates, as in, they don’t prepare you for a job. And these majors are mainstream! You can get a degree in storytelling, bag piping and puppet arts for your fifty thousand a year.

But here‘s the point: colleges are no longer primarily about preparing you for a career. Today’s higher education is about teaching you what a terrible country America is, social activism… and binge drinking. Hey, if college didn’t cost so much the parties might be worth it, but it does.

The average student loan debt in America is $28,400 per borrower. Note that this is per borrower, not graduate! Big difference. A large chunk of the 1.3 trillion dollar student loan liability is held by ex-students who never graduated. For every 100 students who enter a four- year college only 59 exit with a degree.

But maybe you’re one of the lucky ones. You got a business degree and you found a decent job. Chances are you’re paying off your student loans and will be for the next 10, 20 or even 30 years! Good luck saving money for a down payment on a house or just about anything else.

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34 COMMENTS

  1. I've had young people want to argue with me about history, claiming they have or are getting a degree in history. There aren't very many jobs in this field either. Makes me smile every time they brag about that lol. 🙂

  2. Go to India for Colledge Education, beat them in their own Game. Education is a commercial product and treat it that way, but it from where it is sold cheap and sell where u can get best value for it.

  3. College is a waste of time… or rather, its no longer worth the risks you take with it unless you come from a particularly wealthy background. I am a current, middle-class undergraduate in STEM and I just happened to be in a position where I will graduate in a couple years with relatively little debt compared to my peers. However, I have noticed that even top-tier public universities are really not all that good at preparing you for a career. There isn't nearly as big a focus on job skills as their should be. It's all theory and book learning. Nothing wrong with that, but it should be a secondary focus compared to what they have you do on the job. When I compare what I'm learning in my lecture and lab sessions to what I observe is wanted or needed by internships and potential employers, I see a big gaping hole. I have big reservations about the value a "higher education" will give me. I'm expecting a steep learning curve on my first job that makes active, consistent use of a fraction of all the facts and figures I'm being taught. It's almost entirely interesting, but useless philosophy for anyone who isn't planning on going into research. Non-research positions are interested in your tangible job skills. I'm in geoscience, so my examples would be: Do you know how to work with this software, to you know how to take field notes, how to operate this equipment, how to manage a timetable, how to work with a team, how to delegate responsibility, how to write up a report, how to navigate unfamiliar areas with a gps or map, how to map an area, how to take water or sediment samples and analyze them, how to familiarize yourself with the legal regulations regarding a particular job, and most importantly…how to avoid a lawsuit. In my experience, these are the skills that most employers are looking for. There is certainly some book-learning required, but not nearly as much as they teach you in school. In fact, I would wager that were they to focus solely on the things that you needed to get a non-research career, the average student would graduate in half the time.

  4. In Mexico we have free college, but is not the government who runs the universities, as a result, the tax payers (companies) get to choose the available carrers. That way they really prepare you for a job, the client is not the kid, but the industry.

  5. the thing is you complain about it but the only thing that'd change it is making it public like in Sweden, we do get student loans, but that's 700 USD a month on top of the 300 you get for free which you need to live. Good terms too, like not having to pay back if youre unemployed or sick, and it's at a 0.2% interest rate. Less than inflation

  6. There is certainly a problem with runaway cost for a college education, but let us be completely honest about it. According to the College Board $9650 is the average cost (tuition and fees) for state residents to go to a public college. Private schools it's $33,480. If you are going for one of those less marketable degrees in the social sciences and choose an expensive private university you don't deserve much sympathy. It's not those evil politicians you just make dumb decisions.

  7. I believe this to be 100% true. Everyone, my student peers, my teachers, my principles, all keep saying, "Go to College, Go to College, Go to College." But I've always questioned this. Why do I have to go to college? There's such a pro active movement towards getting kids to go to College. And I believe most of them will. And they'll all fail. Except me. I'm not going to College. You all can waste your time.

  8. I know damned well I wouldn't be wasting $50k of somebody eleses money to get a gender studies degree, I'd use it to go into computer programing or some other form of stem to make profit and pay back my debts, seriously my generation is filled with lazy entitled cunts it embarrassing.

  9. Always be skeptical of someone promising something for nothing. If it's easy money and sounds too good to be true, you might want to read the fine print. The large print giveth and the fine print taketh away.

  10. The Government provide loan to support democracy. Many countries democracy don't work because people are not educated to make decision for themselves. Instead they opt for charismatic character.

  11. It is generally the politicians' goal to keep you dependent on, and a slave to, the government. That way they can promise the government will fix your problems, and secure your vote.

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