Quote:I like this idea. It's a very--wait for it--libertarian approach to the problem. It doesn't have to lock puppeteers and lion tamers out of college; it just strongly suggests that they'll be paying back 7-8% of their income instead of 4%.

 

Exactly.  It would be up to the "real world" (private business) to determine how much a puppeteering degree is worth vs. an engineering degree.  Business and investment firms, not government would assume the cost and the risk associated with paying for education.

 

Quote:This is a free market idea I could get behind. I worry though, that without laws in place or the like it would lead to forms of indentured servitude as that seems a likely progression for investment firms looking for further gains

 

Not really (the indentured servitude part).  Say for example a student gets and engineering degree under the program.  Perhaps the student was good enough to pass college, but isn't really that great of an Engineer.  Said student might end up working for far less salary than someone that is actually good in the field.  The investment firms have no control over what the person does after college.  Perhaps someone goes to school and graduates with an engineering degree, but decides that he/she would rather be a technician earning less salary than a typical engineer.

 

Again, the risk is assumed by someone else (private business) rather than the government or the student's family.

 

Quote:Some thoughts (not attacks, just thoughts):

 

 

It also doesn't really seem (to me) to work out any better than a student loan.  Assuming someone gets a job right out of school at $40,000/ yr.  Using Rubio's example of 4% of salary for 10 years (and assuming no raises) that ends up coming to $1600 a year or $16,000 over ten years.  Assuming interest isn't being compounded, that is a 6% rate (which is actually 3x higher than my current rate.)  

 

I don't know if he expounds on his ideas (I haven't read his book) but it seems like the only advantage would be that if you don't find a job you don't pay as much back which means the key component of risk is assumed by the company.  Sounds like a typical student loan to me.  

 

Also, what happens if you have a private company paying for your, say, business degree and you decide to change majors?  Are you allowed to or do you then need to pay back the amount they lent?  Is the amount based on your salary while you pursue your new degree?

 

Lastly, am I the only one who thinks it wouldn't take long for the companies who make these investments to start pushing for legislation that protects them if a student defaults?  

 

SIDE NOTE:  To be open and honest in this discussion, I have 2 degrees, one that many would suggest is a practical degree (Business) and one that would be considered a wasted degree (History.)  

 

All very good points and certainly questions that need to be asked.  If I remember right, Mr. Rubio doesn't expand on it much in his book, but it's a good outline of a solution that could work.

 

Regarding the student defaulting issue, again a program like this is designed for future employers and investment firms to assume the risk.

 

Quote:All very true. The number he quoted is certainly not the majority of what degrees cost now nor the direction they are headed. As I said earlier my degree was over 40 and my girlfriends was over a 100 for just the medical degree not the art degree she started with. Those numbers are, IMO, obscenely high and unless the costs are brought down there wont be a reasonable investment that does not do the same thing as the loan. 

 

I was just saying it's a reasonable idea Rubio was talking about. 

 

Remember though, his example was for someone that maybe needed $10,000 to complete their final year.  Perhaps that person has some of their own money to assist in paying for the remainder of his/her tuition.

 

This is a specific example though, of ideas that can solve part of the problem of education without raising taxes.  I would like to see something specific from Bernie Sanders regarding the issue.  All I've seen him say so far is that he would raise taxes and make a public university education "free".

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