Currently back at Uni for another go (sort of, it's complicated), and it's amazing to see how much the place has declined, after Covid, but even since the start of the year...
This particular Uni keeps scrapping student amenities and aspects of the student "experience", from free stuff at O Week through to removing the last remaining ATM on campus (!!), through to killing off most campus food vendors, and then, most importantly, massively reducing staffing numbers and quality, which affects everything from course offerings through to, of course, teaching quality. Hell, they've even sacked most of their "student interface" staff, which means that if we need to, say, sort out an enrolment issue, it is nearly impossible to get seen in person to have it dealt with... It's fucked.
The University in my home city (which is, for the most part, much better than the one I am currently at. Or at least it used to be) is even worse. They've unironically scrapped most of the food vendors and the University textbook shop entirely, from their main campuses, with view to forcibly closing all their main campuses in five years or so, and moving the student body into the city centre, against the wishes of students, the community, and even local businesses. But the Uni doesn't give a fuck.
What are students meant to do in the meantime? Lol, get fucked, essentially. Like, quite literally, they've hollowed out the campus, and left them with nowhere to go, and yet still the international students flood in...
I've been around these campuses, across Australia and elsewhere, for long enough now to know that this shit is not sustainable. Like, how long until (domestic) student bodies wake up and realise that they are being taken for a complete ride? Student fees haven't declined, they've only increased, as more and more facilities are scrapped, and as the teaching becomes little more than Youtube videos. And yet, because we are continually told "a degree is the only way to get a good-paying, middle class job", still the kids stream in.
I honestly just wonder how long it will be before people finally realise what a fucking Ponzi scheme this all is, if ever...
"Expensive day care for middle class adults" while also functioning as a degree mill for immigrants is a complete fucking joke, even compared to what this "system" was like a decade ago...
Of course, this varies by country, and Australia is worse than most, but the US system is at least equally fucked, if for different reasons...
Funny thing is, I have to pass two "transgender flag" road crossings, to leave the campus tonight. Because that's what this University spends money on. Rubbing that shit in your face at every possible opportunity.
Try speaking up, though? Yeah, you're gonna face some pretty severe consequences...
Lol, fuck this entire system.
the math affecting student loans is fucked. all student loans are taxpayer backed, meaning there's no risk of default for the lender. result is the same shit as the mortgage crisis... subprime loans that were known subprime since origination. lenders don't care because they get paid for origination, not actually servicing the loan.
so just like with the mortgage crisis, trillions of dollars are extended to borrowers, which drives up prices massively, making even more of these loans subprime. bill clinton started this shit with republican congress, bush expanded it, and obama removed the remaining caps. there's simply no downside for a lender to give $100k to a C-student who is going to a third tier toilet university, getting a BA in underwater feminist dance theory, and then tack on $200k more for a graduate degree in gender oppressionomics.
so the first thing to crush this problem is to stop issuing subprime loans. to do that, either stop taxpayer backing of loans entirely, or impose super strict requirements -- any degree program that doesn't have 90%+ employment at living wages within 6 months of graduation, unaffiliated with the university, and requires THAT degree, needs to become ineligible for taxpayer backing. lenders will stop lending for these shit tier programs, and the market will correct.
but no one congressman would ever vote to support that, because it'd stop the racket. we are an occupied nation.
exactly. they won't touch it because once gibs are available, anyone who cuts them off, no matter how unsustainable, is basically seen as hitler.