The education space is fraught with predators.
Financial Aid and Student Loans
A few years ago I was researching post-secondary education options, and it felt like the goal was to sell me on a program and then help me pay for it through financial aid and students loans. Imagine the state of higher ed around the time when ITT Tech had 140 locations up and running. ITT Tech degree programs cost between $45,000 and $85,000 a year, and the average income for grads was $38,400. Their student’s default rate on their student loans was 22% in 2014. ITT Tech left students in debt without the ability to finds job to pay back the debt, and thus ITT Tech closed its doors…because they were bankrupting 1/5th of their students.
In 2014, only the University of Phoenix had more students who had defaulted on their students loan than ITT Tech, and today, they have an NFL stadium named after them.
Needless to say, all of the options I explored felt scammy, and I chose to enroll in a coding bootcamp instead. The financial risk was much lower. I believe I paid around $1,500 for a 10-week class.
Prior to this time in my life, I attended Texas State University. I graduated in 2010 and at the last minute, skipped a double major in Philosophy and Psychology to just major in Psychology, minor in Philosophy, and no longer spend any more time in a classroom where everyone thinks they’re right and feels compelled to explain why.
I paid a lot of money for a B.S. degree from Texas State. In fact, I am still paying it. Lucky enough for me, I, or should I say my parents, had good enough credit that they could co-sign a student loan with me, so I could afford the college experience. I’m not sure how people without good enough credit pay for college.
I’m not sure college was worth a $30,000 experience. I definitely learned a lot, but I’m not sure what I learned was worth $30,000, and I’m not sure I had to do the learning in college.
I’m honestly not sure universities, even publicly funded universities, have the best interest of their students in mind.
About 50% of college students graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in 6 years. What does the other 50% do to pay off their student loan debt with no degree to earn a job that pays enough to pay off their student loan debt? Even if you have a degree, will you make enough money to pay off your student loan debt? Are colleges catalysts for education, or are they debt factories?
My experience in Teach For America and KIPP taught me that education is sacred. Education is the essential component of culture. It allows our species to communicate, grow, learn, and survive.
Operating with integrity and doing the best by our students is the only option, and perhaps we can be the difference for a few hundred people a year — and One Day more.
