(06-25-2019, 09:46 AM)StroudCrowd1 Wrote: This seems to be a hot button item for the Democrats this election cycle. I don't personally have any student debt but I am curious to hear from those who do and what your thoughts are on having it forgiven via the tax payer (who themselves may not have had the chance to go to college to have debt in the first place)?

Some of us paid our own way through scholarships and jobs and managed to survive without student loan debt. The ex-wife's grad school, on the other hand...well...good thing my useless degree has translated itself into jobs that pay well.

My theory on higher education funding is as simple as it would be complicated. The basic idea is that everyone who graduates from high school is granted the cost of trade school tuition and materials. This amount is based on trade school tuitions in their area and on the field their trade school goes into. That grant is audited as part of taxes, and any funds unaccounted for or unused by age 24 are due and payable to the US government. If an individual chooses to go for a full four-year degree, they're still entitled to that trade school amount based upon the cost of trade schools in the area surrounding their university, but anything above that amount is on them to make up through scholarships and self-funding. Those who don't graduate high school qualify for nothing, given that a pulse is enough to get you through most high schools these days.

The idea that everyone is entitled to a four-year degree is silly. IMO, everyone is entitled to the basic education needed to be a productive member of society, and given that a skilled tradesman can make much, much more than a recent college grad in a world where no one wants to be a plumber, an electrician or a carpenter, a trade school is more than enough for that.

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