About college students… I don’t know where everybody gets their statistics, but student loans are not about living the high life in most cases; they are the cost of people coming out of the lower middle-class and lower still to just have access. And about there being a choice about tuition-reimbursing employers… has anybody paid attention to what has happened since NAFTA? A lot of America’s employer base has gone abroad, and a lot of jobs remaining are being held by skilled workers from other countries who are willing to work for less. For many people coming out of college, just finding an employer will be quite the search — and then there’s discrimination, which is alive and well. I have now come out of college TWICE, summa cum laude in my chosen fields, WITHOUT student loans — the work is simply not available even for the highest-achieving Black folks the way it used to be, and yet the cost of college keeps going up for everyone while the returns continue to diminish. But again, a student loan is just the cost of ACCESS. There are not that many programs that offer entrepreneurship training for those fresh out of high school, relative to the numbers of young people that would need that training if they couldn’t afford college.

Meanwhile, the greed of Wall Street has wrecked the economy of the WHOLE WORLD, and has been wrecking it for some time. 2008 is not an isolated event. Does anybody remember the complicity of Wall Street in the madness aroudn Enron and WorldCom (2001 and 2003)? Long-Term Capital Management (1998)? The S&L Scandal (late 1980s)? And on back and on back until you reach the Great Depression? Even mentioning college students’ supposed greed and even the greed of duped homeowners in the same sentence with the greed of Wall Street as if they were somehow comparable in scope or effect is a stretch — and if I weren’t a Christian, I’d choose another term.

I am not exactly a fan of Occupy, but I am a little tired of people with means knocking college students and others who go into debt in order to get just a little piece of what others take for granted. People with means need to educate themselves just a little more about what is actually going on for those with less means — or else just count themselves as willfully ignorant and thus complicit in the evils that are being done in the name of the “free market” and “self-sufficiency.”

Is Wall Street GREED the same as someone making $50K and buying a $250K home then expecting big brother govt to come to their rescue when they lose their job? Is Wall Street GREED the same as someone maxing out on credit cards to purchase material things then filing bankruptcy? Is Wall Street GREED the same as someone loading up on student loans to attend college then demanding a six figure salary and loan forgiveness?

These are ALL acts of GREED and it’s not just Wall Street’s GREED that is weighing down America!

In terms of education, none of the licenses required to work in the Financial Industry ie. Stock Broker, Investment Adviser, Real Estate Broker, Mortgage Broker, etc. requires a college degree!

So contrary to popular belief, we do not have to pay to play…just know what the requirements are instead of citing statistics that have nothing to do with the real world and everything to do with keeping Wall Street intact!

Or to put it another way, you don’t have three eyed fish swimming in your drinking water because the government puts regulations on the corporation up the river, who if they had it their way, most likely would put more pollution in the water to reduce cost than you would like to drink.

You can’t make illegal any sentiment greed, gluttony or whatever. You can’t make illegal the intent to murder. But you can create intelligent consequences and structures to create consequences if it occurs.

That is the regulation of greed I am talking about and it happens all the time.

Also I would challenge you on your flawed concept of student loans and lavish lifestyles. Do some, yes, but the fact of the matter is that without a degree you are MUCH less likely to get a job offer. Let’s eliminate the concept of global competitiveness and focus on just straight up life.

All statistics point to the fact that the higher your level of education the greater the likelihood of long term success and increased wealth. High student loan debt is also a function of increasing tuition cost. So in other words you have to pay to play.

Life will never be fair….the goal is to control what one can control and not leave it to CHANCE or crooked politicians!

These students have no concept of SACRIFICE they just bought into the hype that COLLEGE is the answer to it all and are now finding out that they have been DUPED!

If one can’t seek out an employer tuition reimbursement program, scholarships, grants “not student loans”, or simply save for their high priced college experience, then perhaps one would be better off staying at home to work and pay for the local community or state college instead of crying foul play and expecting others to pay for their CHOICE!”

While I applaud you on your success and your plan to get there, you do realize not every city has businesses that offers tuition reimbursment to their employee’s. Also, it’s not about crying foul…the world is contstantly changing around us the need for jobs is always huge. They are crying foul because they are broke college students the vast majority of them are unemployed people that were laid off due to the economy and have no way to pay bills. You know it’s truly a problem when Wal-Mart isn’t hiring…alot of these Corporations are hollering Recession yet they dish out HUGE bonuses to the higher ups in the companies, take business and PERSONAL trips using the company planes on the company(which in turn falls back on the Entry Level employees), and were bailed out not ONCE but TWICE and some banks used that money for personal trips to Vegas and overseas.

Do your research sweetheart it’s much bigger than college students. There are actually employed people out in the mob as well protesting because they are sick of the Goverment spending spending spending. Wall Street bending and breaking rules all the while keeping politicians in their pockets so they are allowed to do all of this.

Trust…it’s much bigger than just college students.

@Eleanie, thanks for your comments and I tip my hat to you. My employer paid for my MBA and my husband’s employer paid for his master’s in computer science! My niece is in graduate school to become a nurse practitioner and her employer is paying for her advanced degree!

There are many employers that have tuition reimbursement programs for their employees although you may have to sign a contract to remain with the firm for a period of time, usually two years.

In my opinion, there is no justification for loading up on student loans to pay for college that does not equate to SUCCESS nor job security! Many students use these loan proceeds to pay for high priced tuition, room and board, and to fund their lavish lifestyles.

These students have no concept of SACRIFICE they just bought into the hype that COLLEGE is the answer to it all and are now finding out that they have been DUPED!

If one can’t seek out an employer tuition reimbursement program, scholarships, grants “not student loans”, or simply save for their high priced college experience, then perhaps one would be better off staying at home to work and pay for the local community or state college instead of crying foul play and expecting others to pay for their CHOICE!

And to Hoodgirl if furthering your education is considered greedy I wonder how greedy the 35 y/o McDonald’s worker or the 40 y/o warehouse clerk feels right now. Greed is when you have too much already and want alot more. Greed is when you see no end in gaining while others suffer from losing. Greed isn’t being content with making $25,000 a year, greed isn’t when you live your life in an apartment because buying a house would put you in debt or further in debt. Greed isn’t taking the bus to work because that’s the only means transportation you can use.

Some have been blessed with knowledge or a family that wants or needs for nothing. If you have one of those two you can make it pretty far. I know of people that have College Degree that have lots of money they either sale drugs, entertain, or run the family business. Most don’t appreciate the value of a dollar and burn it on useless things but, there are some who don’t. There is no such thing as a free ride but many people get that free ride on the backs of hardworking individuals.

Answer this for me, would you be willing to work for someone that has less experience, is severly under qualified, and hasn’t worked 75% as hard as you have to get where you got. That answer is fairly easy for me NO!!! But for one reason or another that’s the world that some of us live in and experience.

Milton Friedman, one of the fathers of conservative thought argued that the government should only exist (from a market standpoint) to correct the negative externalities of the free market on the common good.

There is a reason we have laws to regulate pollution, license certain practices, regulate certain industries (IE the pharmaceutical companies), etc. All of that is regulating “greed”. Not from a desire standpoint but from an implementation standpoint. What do you think the SEC is?

I agree with you on corporations steering politicians. I think that is part of what the Occupy Movement is about.

From both a micro economic standpoint and a macro economic standpoint you are way off base in regard to students loans and the job market. We can talk about that in more detail if you want.

For example, did you go into McDonalds recently and see something about a health inspector?

However, I must respectfully disagree with your statement that choosing college and loading up on student loans is greed. I chose to attend undergrad and graduate school to better myself in order to have a better life for myself and my child. (and I’m not talking about big houses and fancy cars). I accepted the fact long ago that I am responsible for paying back the loans that I have acquired to obtain both degrees.

Also if finding jobs that offer tuition reimbursement were that easy or students using their income to pay for college expenses were that simple I am sure many would choose that path.

In today’s economy people are fighting to find a job, let alone one that offers tuition reimbursement. I have worked within state government for 12 years and they cut back on that eons ago.

Now that’s the CHOICE people are faced with.