43.3 million Americans, regardless if they graduated, are now saddled with $1.26 trillion in student loan debt. The future of higher education and who will pay for it was a key issue of the 2016 democratic primary and currently in the US Presidential elections. There are issues with quality of education, access to it, and affordability. In class, we will break down the economic forces playing a part in the current problem.
I. Preparation Before Class:
Read:
- The expensive romance of NYU (The Atlantic)
- The end of higher education’s golden age (Clay Shirky)
- $1 Trillion Student Loan Problem Keeps Getting Worse (Forbes)
II. In Class Discussion:
- Let’s discuss our assignments on how you personally value a higher education degree.
- What is required for “Higher Education”
- Let’s list and discuss some of the problems facing American Higher Education
- What does the economic story look like for the student? What does it look like for the faculty?
- Let’s dive into your reading reflections.
- Exploring Content: Sound
III. Reflection / Assignment After Class:
Reflection / Assignment for Forum:
Where (location) did you get your training. Research the higher education model of another region. Seek out one of your classmates who experienced a higher education in a different place than you. Find out the issues being faced there and contrast them what we have discussed with the American system. You can either write or create an audio piece about what you have learned.
Read/Watch/Listen:
- The Collapse of Cooper Union (Fusion)
- Hillary Clinton borrowed Bernie Sanders’s big idea on college costs (Vox)
- The student loan debt crisis is overblown. The real problem is college completion rates. (V0x)
- Need to know basis (This American Life)
Deeper Dive:
- Obama Administration brings data to the conversation on the value of a Higher Education (College Scoreboard)
- Student loans have grown 500+% since 1999 (The Atlantic)
- Higher Education is not a mixtape (The Atlantic)
- Is the US falling behind in Higher Education? (NEA Today)
- First Generation students unite (NY Times)
- Is college really worth it? (Freakonomics)
- Perks of a private college – hint its not the cost (NPR)