A Critique of Biden’s Student Debt Reforms
I’ve written a new piece about the state of the American university system for Sublation. You can read it here:
https://www.sublationmag.com/post/the-american-university-system-is-a-rotting-carcass
Benjamin Studebaker
Yet Another Attempt to Make the World a Better Place by Writing Things
Tag: Tuition
January 19, 2020
The Higher Education Bubble Isn’t Going to Burst Without Our Help
For a long time, we’ve been sending more and more people to college. We’ve sent so many people to college that many graduates can no longer find good jobs when they leave. More than 40% end up working in jobs that used to require no degree:
Some have been waiting for market forces to solve this problem. Way back in 2015, Senator Marco Rubio argued that folks would stop going to university and start pursuing jobs in the trades. Instead of studying philosophy, Rubio suggested the kids take up welding:
December 7, 2019
Britain: For the Love of God, Please Stop Boris Johnson
On 12 December, Britain has a general election. I care deeply about British politics–I did my BA over there and am finishing up a PhD there as we speak. But more importantly, the Conservative Party has managed the country’s economy and future with stunning fecklessness, and I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do my part to point this out.
Let me tell you the story of what happened in Britain and how Cameron, May, and Johnson are making everything much, much worse.
July 28, 2017
Could Corbyn Cancel All the Student Debt? Yes–But He Has to Bend a Rule
There was a row this week in the UK over Labour’s plan for the university system. Individual Labour politicians have in the past talked about doing something about student debt, but this week Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn distanced himself from outright debt relief:
What I said was we would deal with it by trying to reduce the burden of it, we never said we would completely abolish because we were unaware of the size of it at that time.
Some in the British press are trying to portray this as a U-turn, but the Labour manifesto did not itself make any firm pledges on debt relief. It promised to eliminate tuition fees, but the debt issue was left to one side:
The average student now graduates from university, and starts their working life, with debts of £44,000. Labour will reintroduce maintenance grants for university students, and we will abolish university tuition fees.
Corbyn indicated this prior to the election–Labour was still trying to figure out the debt issue:
Yes, there is a block of those that currently have a massive debt, and I’m looking at ways that we could reduce that, ameliorate that, lengthen the period of paying it off, or some other means of reducing that debt burden. I don’t have the simple answer for it yet – I don’t think anybody would expect me to, because this election was called unexpectedly; we had two weeks to prepare all this – but I’m very well aware of that problem. And I don’t see why those that had the historical misfortune to be at university during the £9,000 period should be burdened excessively compared to those that went before or those that come after. I will deal with it.
So instead of playing he-said he-said, let’s take a look at what Labour could do about student debt and see if we can help Corbyn figure it out.
May 29, 2017
Don’t Vote for the Tories: Their Manifesto Can’t Compete With Labour’s
British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans for a snap election on 8 June. She’s ahead in the polls (although not as far ahead as she was when I started this series), and the Conservatives may win–they may win by a lot. But they shouldn’t. So I’m continuing a blog series called “Don’t Vote for the Tories.” Each post gives you a new reason to reject the Tories at the polls this June, grounded in research and data. Previously, we’ve looked at some of issues the Conservatives have mishandled, and at the alternative on offer in Labour’s manifesto. Today we’ll be looking at the Conservative manifesto and running their promises directly against Labour’s.
Benjamin Studebaker 