Issue 676 College Cartel: Government September 11, 2015

Today we are going to look at the government's role in the college cartel.  Let us begin.

Government's folly:  The key failing of the government here is its advocating colleges as the sole proprietor of higher learning.  Public figures left and right promote colleges as the sole choice when there is a myriad of choices for higher learning that is equivalent to a college education or for other forms of professionalism.  For instance, online courses, certificate courses, and accreditation tests all void out the need for a college classroom as they show proficiency just as well as any typical college learning environment.  Also, the government ignores skills based jobs like mechanics, battery testers, electricians and the like where businesses are struggling to fill these jobs, with many offering on the job training.  Government perpetuates the idea that you can only be qualified, or "Smart" by getting a degree when we all know that it is not true.  But this plants the ideas in American minds that they are not good enough if they cannot go to college.  That they are cut off from that more profitable job.  And colleges feed into it as they will make money hand over fist due to this mentality.  Of course government, believing its own lie, and politicians not wanting to look bad, avoid the issue of the loans being given out to students that are becoming unpayable.  If government stopped the loans increasing, and started to promote alternate forms of education, then colleges will see the writing on the wall (in my opinion) and thus lower their costs and/or transform themselves into a more streamlined entity to adopt the alternative education models.  But government and the politicians are afraid to be the guys and gals that say no to student loans, and yes to alternate education.  How silly is that.

Conclusion:  Government as usual is causing a problem.  This time they are perpetuating an untruth, and compounding people's financial troubles with respect to student loans.  We need government to stop the stupidity and start preaching alternative education in all its forms.  It is supposed be having college as one potential stepping stone to a career, not the sole proprietor.  See you all next Monday to talk about what we can do to break the college cartel.