Someone at Ted Talks has a twisted sense of humor, because they’ve chosen Fourth of July weekend to post a terrifying video about how college loans keep students in financial slavery. “Between 2000 and 2012,” reads the first fun fact from professor Sajay Samuel, “higher education costs increased by 62%.” Things get worse from there.
Professor Samuel has a pretty long record of speaking out against student debt while teaching at the Penn State Smeal College of Business. He’s not just preaching about free college without consequences, either. He looks at college as a retail institution — with skyrocketing costs and massive profits for universities and loan companies.
He has a solution, too, and it would be a pretty great thing for anyone majoring in Women’s Studies. The professor wants tuition costs to match a college degree’s expected earnings. That means students will have a pretty good idea of what’s going on in the world,. The horrible truth is that not everyone with a Women’s Studies degree can go on to make six figures a year teaching Women’s Studies.
Yeah, it’s pretty heavy stuff for a holiday weekend, and Professor Samuel won’t have an easy time getting support in academia. It’s better for Women’s Studies Professors if they’re treated like they’re doing the same job as Professors of Mechanical Engineering, and rich people’s taxes can cover the difference. Happy Fourth of July, rich people…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXWKuK-Qsu4]
