7 comments

  • galkk 2 minutes ago
    This is great. Those bullshit degrees are example of externalising costs and capturing profits.
  • quadrifoliate 15 minutes ago
    Hopefully this will revamp the educational system in such a way that the pejoratively named "trade schools" can confer bachelor's degrees on their graduates as well.

    I don't really see why some no name university can confer a bachelor's in some bullshit field, but the respectable local trade school cannot confer a bachelor's in plumbing. They honestly have more of a right to do so.

    • delichon 6 minutes ago
      A baccalaureate is an academic degree, which is not what trade employers are looking for. They want certifications and licenses.
  • hankbond 18 minutes ago
    I feel like I have not really heard a compelling reason why student debt should not be dischargeable thru bankruptcy like (afaik) all other forms of debt. I am curious what the ramifications would be if higher education institutions had to (in some form) co-sign the debt being issued.

    I do get that not all education should be purely for economic reasons, but as an autodidact I feel that "learning for the sake of learning" does not need to come with the prices that people are paying for degrees.

    • dataflow 7 minutes ago
      > I feel like I have not really heard a compelling reason why student debt should not be dischargeable thru bankruptcy like (afaik) all other forms of debt.

      According to Reddit [1] it was to discourage students from immediately declaring bankruptcy upon graduation.

      I don't see why they couldn't have put a time limit on it though, if that was the reason. Say you can't declare bankruptcy for 7 years after you leave school.

      [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/ufejjg/why_ca...

    • throw2ih020 9 minutes ago
      What would stop graduates from declaring bankruptcy early in their careers to discharge their debt, before they use their education to build a lifetime of earnings and assets?
    • chacha102 8 minutes ago
      I'm all for "learning for the sake of learning", but the federal government doesn't need to subsidize it. Losing federal aid is not the same as not permitting colleges to run the programs at all. Supply/demand is still alive and well.
  • EPWN3D 21 minutes ago
    Holy shit this is a great idea. I get the complaints about the arts, but colleges have enjoyed essentially unlimited patience for larding up their programs with extra fees, bullshit credit requirements, and more, for decades.

    I don't personally think that efficiency should be the primary concern of colleges, but it should be a concern, and it just plain hasn't been for ages. And that indulgence has been cloaked in specious, ivory-tower claims about producing well-rounded students. "You can't complain about being require to take a 100-level history course because our job is to turn out renaissance scholars who can debate philosophy at cocktail parties before going to work doing something that has absolutely nothing to do with that."

    All the while, those additional credit hours cost students a shitload of money and debt and take focus away from their actual fields of study.

    Colleges and universities need a kick up the ass to make them actually give a shit about outcomes for their students. I'm not going to cry that they're getting one.

  • amazingamazing 35 minutes ago
    Easy, make non college folks worse off.
  • b3ing 53 minutes ago
    With all the layoffs I wonder how that will turn out
  • reenorap 41 minutes ago
    This is wonderful. Hopefully this is an extinction level event for all of the toxic degree factories that were created just to take advantage of the non-dischargeable student loans. US tuition almost tripled in the last 15 years but the quality of education didn’t triple.

    Trump himself took advantage of this by creating Trump university which was a for-profit degree mill.

    All of those “schools” needs to be wiped off the map and hopefully get replaced by schools that show real value.

    • delichon 20 minutes ago
      TrumpU was never eligible for federal funds of any kind, including students loans, as it never sought accreditation.