The Next Bubble?

Moody's cites student loans as cause for concern:

http://reason.com/archives/2011/08/05/moodys-sounds-the-alarm-on-stu

You might pay a high of 2.5% on a thirty year mortgage with 20% down. Why should your students have to pay 7% at the most vulnerable time of their lives? I thought the federal government had taken this piece of Americana over? Oh, wait, that's why it's in the tank...

All the government money is continues to drive tuition into the stratosphere. I do think it's a bubble and I do think it will eventually burst, as bubbles will do.

It is like anything the government gets a hold of, they screw it up. The politicians whine and moan on one hand that we aren't producing an educated work force and on the other do the things that make education either useless or so expensive few can afford it.

Tuition is a fascinating thing--being in academia I can tell you that an increase in tuition has nothing to do with professor pay, but rather with the ability of the institution to raise tuition.

I got one of those "forward this to 20 friends" e-mails that I refuse to forward, the other day, Sheik. It posited that the children of Congressional staff are exempted from re-payment of student loans. This claim evoked a great deal of (harrumph, harrumph) outrage. But it sounds more like an urban legend to me. Do you know anything about this?

It strikes me as urban legend, but even if true it would really be a mere blip on the overall radar screen of runaway tuition and lack of accountability in higher education. Universities spend millions on diversity while their students learn less and less of actual value.

I think it much more likely that individual institutions arrange scholarships (or whatever) to children of priviledge or connection, than any kind of student loan forgiveness coming from the loan processors, banks, or what have you.

I just saw a notice that Ron Paul was on Piers Morgan. I tuned in and got dipwad Mark Sanford...

Jimmy, according to the Center for State and Local Government Excellence, some governments offer loan forgiveness to their employees. I suppose that may be extended to their children as well, and I have to imagine that the Federal Government has a similar practice. So, upon further review, I suspect that there is something to this.