Summary
The “diploma divide” is reshaping U.S. politics as voters with and without college degrees increasingly differ on economic priorities and political alignment.
While the net cost of college has been declining due to rising financial aid and steady government funding, skepticism about the value of higher education persists.
Working-class voters, facing inflation and economic concerns, are shifting toward Republicans, with many bypassing college for well-paying blue-collar jobs.
Declining college enrollment, particularly at lower-income institutions, reflects broader cultural and economic trends impacting political realignment and perceptions of higher education.
While the net cost of college has been declining due to rising financial aid and steady government funding
…are we just completely ignoring the debt generated by “financial aid”?
Financial aid debt is way too high but there is a bit of a turnaround in places. Or there was. It may not last past Jan 20
There were millions with student loan debt forgiven or partly forgiven, and several states made public universities partly free.
In our case my ex still has student loan debt. She’s a teacher which ought to get it forgiven, but she consolidated so is no longer qualified. However several of her peers benefitted
My older kid goes to a public university and his first year was free, based on his mom’s income.
Nbcnews linked to a report by the college board, that look like it tracls the relative cost of college all the way back to 1994 - - ten years after Regan’s fuckery, and at least 20 yeara too short to show a real drop. And the drop they show is over only about 4 years.
Today’s students were raised by a generation who lived through crippling debt, and see no reason not to expect tuition to skyrocket over the nexr few years.
Not to mention “tuition and fees” ignores the absurd cost of housing.
That’s on a different spreadsheet. We’re looking at the positives.
steady government funding
Until next year. Education, along with everything else, is going to take a hit.
Working-class voters, facing inflation and economic concerns, are shifting toward Republicans, with many bypassing college for well-paying blue-collar jobs.
Seems it’s correct that the Democrats have not given the working class what they want to hear. The sad thing is that the Republicans are the last place they should be looking for help. There’s of course third party…which after an election still results in two parties actually in in the seats (not) doing stuff.
Good news though, there’s no gridlock this time around, so I’m sure Republicans will now shine as they get all sorts of helpful things passed to improve…I’m sorry, to make America GREAT again.
See also the audits conducted by hire-on companies such as rpk Group who destroy academic programs for “budgeting” purposes. This is one example. They’re effectively a bunch of MBAs dictating the funding and courses a school can offer, shifting to a “strategic finance model” which is totally what education is about, of course.
The higher levels of the indoctrination system are primarily about profiteering off the debt’s of young students, exploiting the labor of older students, and owning the lives of those who become employees. The “education” is an optional, sometimes nonexistent sideshow.
Turns out teachers and lecturers really are important for guiding learning to the right lessons…
