https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b Project based around exploring the true cost of college and the high amount of debt that student have to deal with after earning their diploma. en-us 2019-06-02 22:18:59 UTC 2026-03-01 18:15:12 UTC hello@padlet.com https://imgglb.padletcdn.com/v13/image?t=g_auto&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpadlet.net%2Ficons%2Fpng%2F1f92f.png toristien7 https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365154944 High school is slowly coming to an end, we are graduating soon and your family is discussing the plans that you have for your future more and more. High school has been mainly teaching you the basic fundamentals of specific subjects - English, math, science, etc. However, college courses are geared more towards your specific skills and interests. You may be overwhelmingly passionate about the idea of pursing a higher education at a University, after all, "It's a simple fact, the more education that you've got, the more likely you are to have a good job and work your way into the middle class." as Barack Obama said in Chattanooga, Tennessee on July 30, 2013. ]]> 2019-06-02 22:32:13 UTC https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365154944 toristien7 https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365158444

Student debt in the United States is over 1.3 trillion dollars 

In just 10 years, that number rose 511% 

The average student graduates with at least $29,000 worth of debt 

54% of graduates work part-time, in a job that does not have anything do with their major (stats 1-4 come from  BB&D Documentary, produced by Calvin Johannsen.)

In 1970, less than 1% of cab drivers and firefighters had a college degree. Today, over 15% of citizens who are hired into those occupations had previously obtained a college degree

By 2020, 19 million more students will graduate from college, but our economy will only produce 7 million more jobs that require students to have obtained a college diploma (stats 5 & 6 come from TedX talk at University of Nevada, Dusty Wunderlich)

]]> 2019-06-02 23:20:25 UTC https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365158444 toristien7 https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365158833 The first issue surrounding higher education is the misconception that a student must go to a college / university and walk away with a diploma in order to be any sort of successful. Students start college, not sure if it is meant for them in the first place, they figure out what they want to do and by that time has come, the students essentially drown with the amount of debt they are in when they leave and have trouble even placing themselves into a job that makes use for their chosen field of study. ]]> 2019-06-02 23:26:43 UTC https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365158833 toristien7 https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365164796 Ideally, American citizens have a desire for college because they want to become more knowledgeable in an area of study they are passionate about and hope to graduate with higher earning potential and companies looking to hire them. The idea that college is meant for everyone is rooted back to the 1980-90's when there was a "Shift in culture and thinking - preference was put on self esteem over reason, on a college degree over productive working career. Societal norms was all about a white collar job in a college degree." - Dusty Wunderlich, TedX at University of Nevada.  This shift in thinking is still very prevalent, because our economy needs workers of nearly every kind in order for our society to operate properly. Though some workers may work harder in their occupation than others, get paid more or have a deeper educational background - all are worthy and all play a role to their occupation. The attitude of American citizens is that if your occupation is one done well, you are appreciated.  ]]> 2019-06-03 00:28:09 UTC https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365164796 toristien7 https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365182500 Due to an ideal that arose in America that everyone must obtain a college diploma as stated in my previous block, opportunities granted to students for achievements in students' chosen fields are less likely. Entrepreneur and economist, Dusty Wunderlich believes the root cause of the debt crisis is related to his idea of 'educational arbitrage'. Wunderlich uses many examples to define this term, a few of his examples are: inefficiency between value of college education and productivity in the workplace / future earnings, an imbalance in labor markets and the oversupply of college education. ]]> 2019-06-03 02:51:32 UTC https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365182500 toristien7 https://padlet.com/toristien7/ft66b9i7yn4b/wish/365184252 There are many ideas surrounding the idea of the debt crisis in hopes of bringing a resolution that will work so future generations will not have the same domino effect we are dealing with. A proposal given by Wunderlich includes four steps - 

1. The first step he suggested was the idea of floating the student debt interest rate, doing this would mean that when you take out a loan for college, there would not be a fixed rate of interest during the time that you are paying the loan off, the interest would instead be adjustable. 
2. Wunderlich also believes that institution should be funded based on job placement rates for graduates, not on graduation rates. 
3. A third idea was geared towards employers - 'look to hire workers based on high productivity and output, instead of supply and demand.'
4. For students going in to college, he recommended that students be "socially conscious lenders and work through the process with a deep understanding in labor markets / return on investment. Student should intend for cash flow and salary from chosen area of study to match it."

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