Comments about ‘George F. Will: With student loans, bipartisanship piles on a new entitlement’

I wonder when George and his fellow conservatives will take aim at government welfare programs for the wealthy. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) did last year, putting out a report on the money wasted on things just for the rich. This seems like an easy thing to do to help with wasteful government spending, yet the Republicans refuse to even address the things Coburn identified in his report. So picking on the little guy who has few resources to even get an education let alone hire a lobbyist is pretty pathetic, don't you think?

With school loan debt topping $1 trillion and rising, default rampant, at the very least the interest rate on these loans should remain at the rate of 6.8%.

Unfortunately, politicians push education because the conventional wisdom says higher education will bump economic development, so we are urged to invest in college degrees. However, these investments very often don't match up with the skills required for the jobs that are available to be filled. A recent study reveals a full 60% of the increase in the number of college graduates from 1992-2008 found work in low skilled jobs. Only a minority of the nation's stock of graduates is filling jobs historically considered as requiring a degree. And many graduates find themselves unemployed.

If loans at 6.8% prove too expensive for prospective college students, maybe they should consider alternatives. Higher education is a racket.

CLM beat me to the punch on this one.

If you wonder why the cost of higher education has been outstripping just about everything else except health care costs, all you have to do is look at the incentives created by government. Colleges and universities raise prices because they're milking the system created by government grants and cheap student loans. It's so much like the real estate boom that I'm surprised everyone hasn't caught on to the scheme (scam?).

Higher education is more interested in attracting money than it is in providing its customers (students) with employable skills. Unfilled jobs are left wanting because students are chasing occupations that paid well at one time but are saturated currently.

Artificially low interest rates and other incentives shouldn't be so available because they will continue to drive the cost of education higher. Demand for a college education is excessive because of the ease of acquiring cheap loans and grants. The default rate on loans is staggering and threatens to cause another crash.

CLM is right. Look for alternatives to college if you can't pay as you go.

@ SEY. You say it EXACTLY like it is and adroitly.