Hi-ho, Hi-ho, It's off to work I go....

So I'm reading today's issue of the University newspaper, The Daily Iowan, and the top headline states "Students slaving away - more combine jobs, school". I remember thinking that my tuition and expenses were outrageous while in college, but my expenses were nothing compared to what current college students face. It seems every state in the nation is having budget problems (except Michigan apparently), so they cut their allocations for higher education institutions, which forces those institutions to increase tuition, which forces an increase in financial aid offerings to balance the increased tuition, which causes further budget problems....it's a vicious circle. Students are caught in the middle, having no option but to take out more loans and to work longer hours in order to make ends meet. Much like the problem of fixing Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, what are we going to do to fix the costs of higher education?? You can hardly get a job in the US without a degree, but how is the average Joe supposed to afford the cost of getting that degree? Does getting a degree for a better job justify spending the rest of your life paying off student loans? Are you really better off?

Another thing, the United States is already behind other nations with regards to the academic abilities of its youth. Our children have to go to college just to be competetive in the job market. Do you realize that what other nations teach in the first four years of college, is what we teach in graduate college? For example, the majority of the rest of the world offers law and medical degrees as a bachelor's degree. We force our students to receive a bachelor's degree in some other discipline and then spend another 3+ years learning their profession's base knowledge. On this time schedule, lawyers don't start practicing until their mid-20's and doctors aren't finished with their training until they're nearly 30. Then, if a doctor goes into academic medicine, we force them to work themselves 24/7 to obtain research funding, which then replaces portions of their salary (so other than the prestige of saying "I received such and such grant", they don't gain anything) and we require them to increase their patient care services to make more profits (because most hospitals are in the red financially due to the screwiness of HMO's, Medicaid, Medicare, and miserly health insurance companies) until they have a breakdown from burnout. What a wonderful world we live in.... A mechanic may not make as much as a doctor, nor work as many hours, but he/she would have much more spare time to spend with family & friends. Which is better - quantity of salary or quality of life?

So, before I get off on another rant..... Don't you think it's time the US does a major overhaul on itself? We may be the last superpower in the world, but we are so very far behind (dare I say "backward"?) in so many areas. Egocentrism can only get you so far....before you fall flat on your face with the aftertaste of shoe leather in your mouth.