During the past week, I have written about the tragedy, yes tragedy, of young Americans who are unable to pursue a college degree because the cost of a college education has soared in recent decades. Why should young people have to forsake their dreams for a lifelong career and spend their lives in a career they hate just to survive?
The tragedy is compounded by the fact that the USA has become a worse nation, and will continue to fall behind other nations, because who becomes our nation’s doctors, scientists, engineers, teachers, and other important professionals is too dependent on the wealth of young people’s parents rather than merit.
The tragedy is also compounded by the fact that million of Americans who do graduate college have to accept jobs they hate and/or have inferior lives because they need to pay back their student loans (the average debt is almost $30,000) and can’t spend money on other things, including their own children’s education. The student debt crisis affects all of us.
But now Oregon has a solution to the student debt crisis. Basically, the state has decided that students should pay nothing for an education while they are in school, but they will finance the education of future students after they graduate college via a percentage of their income -- income that they would not have if they did not have a college education. The system has worked in England and Australia.
Below are the links to two stories about Oregon’s solution.
Oregon has been at the forefront of important solutions before. It has been No. 1 in voter participation or close to it for decades because it decided long ago that the system of requiring everyone to vote on the first Tuesday of November was stupid. Many of the other 49 states have refused to implement the system because they don’t want a lot of people to vote.
I hope that the other 49 states care more about the future of our nation’s young people and our higher education system than they do about voting. Congratulations Oregon. The state has only one major league sports team (which won one championship thanks to Bill Walton, pictured above), but it's a major league state.
LINKS TO STORIES ON OREGON'S SOLUTION TO STUDENT DEBT CRISIS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katrina-vanden-heuvel-a-debt-free-college-education/2013/08/06/18b4f13e-fe02-11e2-bd97-676ec24f1f3f_story.html?hpid=z3
A debt-free college education
http://business.time.com/2013/07/17/oregons-pay-it-forward-program-imagine-college-with-no-tuition-no-loans-no-debt/
Oregon’s ‘Pay It Forward’ Program: Imagine College with No Tuition, No Loans, No Debt
|