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Forum Post: Did you know colleges and universities use Wall Street to fund their capital needs?

Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 10, 2011, 10:10 p.m. EST by 71353933 (85)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Thats right. Higher education, local school districts, community colleges, etc.

Wall street firms sell bonds for colleges and universities for the schools capital needs, maybe a new school building, parking lot, dormitory, etc.

Schools benefit by getting the money. Wall Street banks get paid to sell these bonds. Then your cost of education goes up overtime to the school can pay these bonds off.

So with the literally hundreds of millions and billions of dollars sitting in many school foundations, real cash and securities that is there now and can be accessed, ....I am very surprised OWS has not made this an issue on behalf of students.

I am surprised there has not been more outcry that some of those $'s go back to the students to help pay down student debt. To help students leave the school with less debt.

Or at the very least cap tuition.

23 Comments

23 Comments


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[-] 2 points by TimUwe (39) 13 years ago

Why are you surprised? Its not about education, its about money. Today's college education is worth the same as a high school diploma 30 years ago.

[-] 1 points by 71353933 (85) 13 years ago

So if its about money to the detriment of students OWS should make an issue of it.....

[-] 1 points by sudoname (1001) from Berkeley, CA 13 years ago

Wall Street puts their fingers in everything. I don't agree with this argument.

[-] 1 points by 71353933 (85) 13 years ago

Universities, colleges and wall street are in bed together...

I think it is what help drives up the cost of tuition......

And there is MONEY NOW SITTING IN THOSE COLLEGE FOUNDATIONS.......money held by wall street firms......money that could be used to help the indebted student who really needs it

[-] 1 points by sudoname (1001) from Berkeley, CA 13 years ago

Oops, I didn't mean to disagree with your argument =)

They also pay some ridiculously high salaries.

[-] 1 points by 71353933 (85) 13 years ago

yes they do pay some ridiculously high salaries....and even more ridiculously high checks and benefits for their bourgeois retirees.....for the rest of their lives...!!

Meanwhile the cost of education goes up and the debt gets bigger for those young people seeking a college education.....

Not all of us have daddy to pay for an education ( nothing wrong with that....just sayin)

[-] 1 points by sudoname (1001) from Berkeley, CA 13 years ago

Yeah, it's amazing. Although I heard that college enrollment has dropped at berkeley at least, by 2% or something since last year. Students commit to these huge loans 4 to 10 years before they start paying them. So I think it will take time to see the backlash. After all, nobody is forcing kids to go to college but (usually) the parents.

[-] 1 points by RonPaulFlixdotcom (73) from Kingsville, TX 13 years ago

The Solution can be found in a man of unwaivering consistency for over 30 years!

http://youtu.be/BeHHq8s6V7U

[-] 1 points by Mooks (1985) 13 years ago

If you don't how much a school costs, or if you think it will cause you hardship, why on earth would you take out the loan?

[-] 1 points by 71353933 (85) 13 years ago

to get an education....

the cost of education could be greatly reduced if there was more sharing inside those foundations

[-] 1 points by Mooks (1985) 13 years ago

A college education great but it is not worth putting yourself into long-term financial hardship for. If you are either going to spend more than you can ever afford to pay back or get useless degrees then why even get a college degree. Carpenters, plumbers, electricians, car mechanics, constructions workers, dental assistants, etc...all make good livings without anything more than a high school education.

[-] 1 points by 71353933 (85) 13 years ago

so a higher education should be for those that can afford the higher tuition?

no, I think money sitting in foundations ( and invested in stocks and securities sitting in wall street firms I might add) should be given back to students to alleviate their debts and to help cap tuition costs..

Now is the time OWS !!

[-] 1 points by Mooks (1985) 13 years ago

Higher education is not the same as higher tuition. In very rare cases does paying more for an education result in a better education.

Private schools can do whatever they want with their money. Public schools already help keep tuition down by tax payer funded subsidies.

[-] 1 points by 71353933 (85) 13 years ago

'In very rare cases does paying more for an education result in a better education."

If that is the case I am sure all the Ivy League schools ( and others) would be happy to give back to students in debt out of their foundations...

How can you argue with that.

That money is SITTING THERE NOW HELD BY WALL STREET FIRMS)..... come on man!

I don't think students really understand this....but the professors and administrators do.....

[-] 1 points by Mooks (1985) 13 years ago

It would sure be a nice gesture. But why would they? They always fill their class each year with plenty of people willing to pay.

[-] 1 points by Wafts (53) 13 years ago

I really don't see why there is so much debate over higher education, or why some in this forum are demanding free higher education. There are so many posts on here about students saddled with loans who now can't get a job. Not because they are uneducated, but because there are no jobs to get in the first place. So why demand anything with regard to an education when you are certain going in that it won't result in a job anyway?

[-] 0 points by 71353933 (85) 13 years ago

No one is asking for a free education.

Are you not sensitive to today's cost....?

The money is in those foudations NOW that can help students now who need real help with their debt burden.

I would rather look for scarce jobs with less debt on my back than look for scarce jobs with a ton of debt on my back....wouldn't you?

Why should bourgeois professors and administators of colleges and universities enjoy all that money in their foundations that has been invested in a capitalist system and held in wall street firms?

Make this an issue OCW.....!

[-] 1 points by 71353933 (85) 13 years ago

Bingo!

[-] 1 points by MikeyD (581) from Alameda, CA 13 years ago

Not just Wall St. They use taxpayer dollars as well. The college system is just as bad as Wall St, but once again, the facilitators who make all this possible sit in Washington, not Wall St.

[-] 1 points by 71353933 (85) 13 years ago

yes the college system is as bad as wall street because the college system has a concentration of money in their foundations.... and its not there for the benefit of students...