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Forum Post: Time to march on the Universities

Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 8, 2011, 9:42 a.m. EST by schnitzlefritz (225)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

So many have expressed that the high cost of getting a college education is killing them financially and say that college should be free.

The only thing that has risen as fast as the cost of health insurance is college tuition. These institution are run by liberals and progressives, who, if they really cared, could make education affordable to the masses. It's time to tell universities and liberal professors that it's time to stop getting rich on the backs of students and to make education affordable.

When I went to college, my total tuition bill was about 25% of my first year starting salary. By the time my son graduates he will have paid 5 times his first year starting salary for just an undergraduate degree. I feel sorry for kids today. The Liberal universities should collectively be ashamed of themselves.

23 Comments

23 Comments


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[-] 2 points by EndTheFedNow (692) 13 years ago

Teachers unions have been crying poormouth for decades while screwing the unsuspecting public who is stuck paying for their gravy train.

Some salaries from the University of Michigan (and these are consistent across the country):

Mark D Rosenbaum Leo Lecturer Ii $805,092 Karl E Lutz Leo Intermittent Lecturer $774,671 Alison E Hirschel Leo Intermittent Lecturer $738,420

etc, etc, etc.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/databases/salaries/university-of-michigan-ann-arbor

End the damn public sector welfare along with bankster welfare!

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

WOW, those salaries are insane. Students have been very mad lately at UC berkeley because they keep raising tuition by 20% or something nuts, while some employees are getting almost $1m a year.

[-] 1 points by EndTheFedNow (692) 13 years ago

Yes, they are insane. The public has been scammed with teachers' union lies about teachers being underpaid. Even at the HS and primary school levels (where I worked) the salaries are high with summers off, two weeks at Christmas, one in the spring, federal holidays, Cadillac insurance, gravy pensions, and benefits for life - all at the expense of working people who carry the burden of the taxes that these people live off of. That's why they've been screaming "Raise My Taxes!" - because it will raise YOUR taxes so they can make even more money on our dime.

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

I had no idea about this. Thanks for the link, that is an excellent reference and I think many students with big loans will be interested.

I'd love to have summers off and all that vacation like the teachers. People tend to forget about this when they complain about the salaries. I like the idea of minimum amounts of vacation like in some european countries. But I guess this is way off topic.

[-] 1 points by EndTheFedNow (692) 13 years ago

I'm close to a disabled person who is below the poverty line and lost her house because she couldn't pay the property taxes. Those taxes go to pay the ridiculous salaries and benefits of public sector union employees. You tell me, why should the poor, the elderly and the working class lose their homes because they can't afford to support the government class? They shouldn't!

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

teacher make the people in this society more interesting

[-] 1 points by Laural (2) 13 years ago

I live in Guelph Ontario Canada. I thought I saw something about a local rally to express solidarity with this movement but now I can't find it. Any hints on locating organizers in Guelph!

Thanks Laural

[-] 1 points by Laural (2) 13 years ago

I live in Guelph Ontario Canada. I thought I saw something about a local rally to express solidarity with this movement but now I can't find it. Any hints on locating organizers in Guelph!

Thanks Laural

[-] 1 points by BeCarefulForWahtYouWishFor (46) 13 years ago

So in other words, because they make more money than you, they're bad? If you can't have it, destroy it?

Professors worked hard to achieve their doctorate degree, and often have big college debts to pay after they get out. They also have to spend time researching books and have to grade papers and prepare tests. Some have to rebuild their lessons from scratch.

Are they not hard working people themselves? Are they not like you in principle?

Don't indiscrimanently target people simply because they have more money. Keep a clear mind and think before you act.

[-] 1 points by schnitzlefritz (225) 13 years ago

"So in other words, because they make more money than you, they're bad? If you can't have it, destroy it?"

Isn't that what you want to screw the rich CEO's in this country or any one else i the top 1%? The 1% are all bad? And if that's so then the college professors, movie stars and professional athletes are bad as well. Most CEOs went to college, worked hard during their life times and have succeeded. Are they not hard working people, too? I think I know the answer to that.

[-] 1 points by BeCarefulForWahtYouWishFor (46) 13 years ago

The 1% is not all bad. Hard work is an important American value. I, part of the "99%", do not agree with you. Lashing out at someone for the sake of lashing out is not the way to handle this.

If you work hard, you can make money, too. At the very least you could make it so the next generation can make money.

You're targetting the wrong people. EVERY professor is not the enemy. The goal is to make it so everyone can have more money. Some things HAVE to be a little pricey. That's how economics work.

There are many steps we'll have to go through to fix the economy, but attacking rich people isn't the way to do it.

[-] 1 points by schnitzlefritz (225) 13 years ago

Oh, I see, there are goo 1%ers and bad 1%ers. If you propose to sock the rich with higher taxes, wont the good ones be hurt with the bad ones?

I think that the OWS are the ones targeting the wrong people. Most of the grievances I have heard have their roots in policies and practices of the federal government. It should have been ODC.

I don't attack rich people. I just pointed out that Wall Street and banks aren't the only ones that have abused their positions in society and have made it harder on people to succeed. I want people to succeed. The rich aren't a stagnant group. People move in and out all of the time. More power to the rich and I hope that people who work hard all manage to become rich some day. America, the land of opportunity.

[-] 1 points by BeCarefulForWahtYouWishFor (46) 13 years ago

Universities are the wrong battleground. This kind of direct "assault" will only cause more problems. If you fix the general economy, people will be able to pay for tuitions and there won't be a problem.

[-] 1 points by schnitzlefritz (225) 13 years ago

No, the astronomical increases in college tuition are making it harder for students. If the wages are stagnant, why should tuition increase at such a high rate? If the economy and wages are expanding, then so should tuition. There is no reason for it to have increased much faster than inflation and wage growth, other than greed and that thy can getaway with it. The very same motives that OWS infers on evil corporations.

[-] 1 points by BeCarefulForWahtYouWishFor (46) 13 years ago

That reply has nothing to do with what I posted. The economy ISN'T expanding. Once it's fixed, college tuitions won't be as costly.

[-] 1 points by schnitzlefritz (225) 13 years ago

It has everything to do with the issue. 30 years ago a college education was less than the cost of a new car. Now it's the cost of a house. Once the economy is fixed and jobs are available it will be just as costly and will continue to grow faster than wages and inflation. In which case, it will continue to be more of a burden over time.

[-] 1 points by BeCarefulForWahtYouWishFor (46) 13 years ago

Then we'll deal with it then. Now we have bigger problems. Prioritze a bit.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

I saw a San Diego State Banner and the Occupy San Diego Rally

[-] 1 points by EndTheFedNow (692) 13 years ago

That's because these people are trying to hijack a movement that may very well expose their greed and fleecing of the people.

I know of what I speak because I was a member of the NEA and the MEA (Michigan). If the duped public had any idea, they would be furious. No factory worker or office worker who makes 30K per year should be supporting elitist public employees making six figure incomes with summers off! Greed is greed and it exists in many places that transfer tax money to the government class as well as banksters. No elderly person should lose their home because they can't afford the property taxes that are outrageously high because of public sector employees making bank.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

Farms are run by machine so the Nation should have no problem providing for it's people

this means people can take on projects to improve their quality of life and the quality of life of those around them and those that come after them

Cars can been seen as such a product giving people the ability to move greater distances

Education propagates the already created knowledge from our ancestors

[-] 1 points by ForTheWinnebago (143) 13 years ago

"Professor salaries have increased at a rate around 2.8% to 4.1% over the past 25 years. This is mostly in line with inflation and not a cause for college costs to increase as much as they have." http://tiny.cc/c2zlg

[-] 1 points by EndTheFedNow (692) 13 years ago

Everybody needs to look up "university salaries" to see how much these leeches are making on the backs of We the People. Many university salaries run in the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS PER YEAR! And, that doesn't include the obscene pensions and perks. That's why education is so expensive and students are drowning in debt.