If students without adequate qualifications, such as a high school diploma, take trial programs BEFORE they pay anything, how is that a bad thing? Wouldn’t you want to know that you wouldn’t do well before you paid any money?

Trolls are working early this a.m. Must have been the earthquake that shook them out from under their home bridges.

Strip mining the streets and homless shelters for winos, bums and brain-damaged vets was profitable for Kaplan and other for-profit colleges. Every warm body qualified for a bonanza of federal loans. And Kaplan got paid whether the student dropped out or not.

The administration had a chance to end this fraud, but they dropped the ball. The additional requirements placed on Kaplan and others are barely a slap on the wrist.

But some are doing worse than Kaplan, and are in dire need of more discipline. Like the University of Northern Virginia.

Public education is really taking a hit these days. When it’s not vouchers for private and religous schools, it’s lack of funding for colleges and universities. We are going to have a whole lot of uneducated people entering the non-job force.

To add these sham colleges to the mix and we’re in real trouble.

Strip mining the streets and homeless shelters for winos, bums and brain-damaged vets was profitable for Kaplan and other for-profit colleges.

And remember the government gives preferential hiring to vets especially those even more qualified than the average vet with diplomas from Freddy’s school.

And from the NYT we have this debate:

Given that high school and college are no longer a ticket to middle-class life, does our society devote too much time and money to education?

Yes, we do. Education has no intrinsic value whatsoever. If it doesn’t make you corporate cannon fodder, why waste all that money?

Actually, making education more affordable would be the correct answer.

Good morning, pups. MoDo is off today, so it’s just The Moustache of Wisdom. He presents us with “Obama, Tiger, Golf and Politics” in which he says from the plans for a “Grand Bargain” going nowhere to a bus tour falling flat, this is what happens when a natural loses his swing.

Here he is.

The coffee and tea are ready, the cold drinks are in the fridge, and I’ve got apple cranberry muffins that are still warm. I’m running horribly late this morning, so I’m whizzing off to do stuff that needs to get done before work. Have a great day.

We’re accustomed to links here. Here’s a link to the debate from the opinion pages from which you took your quote.

Good morning,

What’s shaking ?

Seems the National Phallic symbol has erectile disfunction.

Sorry for not including the link. I’m glad that you did.

Today’s Republican “job creators” — parasites on the body politic as well as the student body.

But wait — there’s more revenue streams. Say, for instance, you might be the University of Northern Virginia. Since there are no fixed limits on enrollment of foreign students, you could sell admission to your institution to people from other countries, giving them an opportunity to obtain visas. You might then entice them to curry favor with the university through becoming an addition to the chancellor’s poly family.

I’ve worked with, and for DeVry engineering graduates (admittedly from decades ago). They were competent, capable, energetic people. Private colleges have their place. It’s just not at the public trough.

Note that they call it an orientation program rather than a remedial program. I suspect there’s a difference.

WaPo will do just fine. Election season has begun and they should make good money for the next year or so writing puff pieces. For which they don’t need sterling columnists.

Boxturtle (Other than to use their names to give the puff the aura of respectability)

Obama broke it. Am waiting to hear the boehners start the accusations.

And the heck of it is, we should be EXPANDING public education. A high school diploma is on longer a ticket to the middle class, in fact it barely geting you into fast food anymore. From some city schools, all a diploma means anymore is that you managed to avoid getting locked up or knocked up. For some schools, it doesn’t even mean that.

First, we need to make sure high school graduates are in fact educated and not just promoted to the next grade for social reasons. Then I suspect we’ll need to seriously look at making the first two (four?) years of university classes tax supported.

Boxturtle (I also want world peace. And a pony)

But if we have Boehners, how can we have Erectile Dysfunction?

Boxturtle (So sorry. Couldn’t resist. Will go stand in the corner now)

Alright, Marion. You’re right. Here’s the links (NSFW!). I’ll go stand with BoxTurtle.

[snort] I’m not even going to ask how you found those… Now I’m off to where it wouldn’t be safe to “link” to them.

It’s getting crowded here. Could you find another corner?

I’d be glad to try, doing without the boehners anyway.

Generally, in the last 30 years when the U.S. has a choice between education and superstition large swaths of the “public” choose superstition.

I think you’re confusing erectile dysfunction with electal dysfunction. It’s a common mistake, both having to do with uncooperative pricks.

Boxturtle (Yeah, yeah I know. Back to my corner)

So hard to tell the difference. Nothing to do with corners.

Well, it IS cheaper to go with superstition. Imagine the money you save from not having to study the first 4B+ years of earths existance, you only have to pay attention to the last 10,000. So you can toss most of the history texts except the bible.

Boxturtle (Heck, you can toss most of the science texts except the Bbile as well)

WaPo should save money on George Will, too.

I’d like to see education expanded in all 12 years to pre and after-school programs that offer art, music, sports – any and all kinds of enrichment and adult support and supervision that is lacking or absent in so many homes.

And I’m not bashing parents. It is so damn hard for some families to make it these days that I have stopped the blame game.

Marion, may I raid your fridge for diet coke? Thank you!

Boxturtle! Time out is over!

We all noticed the Right turn of WaPo, but there was Right-wingedness in the Graham family way before that. I won’t mention what happened in the sixties, but in the eighties, Bob Graham was Governor of Florida. The same Bob Graham on Obama’s BP white wash commission. Three years ago I made a video of a much older song I wrote exposing him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jplP8GsOAfY

Actually, we only have to study 6015 years of history, since the earth was created in 4004 BC. Or so I’ve heard…

Like “it went soft on his watch ?”

Wouldn’t surprise me if Bachmann came up with that. in a manner of speaking.

I’m wondering how to expand the established higher ed regime without further bloating its function as a costly industry. The monopoly seems to have taken over its claimed value as an “investment,” I think.

The inflation is astronomical and graduates end up bogged down in loans which will haunt them for a very long time. Yet more financial aid just serves to push the tab higher.

Professors are away from classrooms too much. Grad students and teaching assistants are expected to pick up too much of that load. Students who paid, or who borrowed to pay, get short changed.

I think all of it is an effort by special interests to wring money out of the process while leaving students and their families in the lurch. In that regard approved not for profit institutions are just as remiss as the for profit scams nowadays.

It’s time for students and their families to fight back, get out of that network, and find alternative channels of education not controlled by these barons.

Ah, those “free trials”. That’s not how it works. But you knew that.

For profit colleges make you take classes you could do without for your degree so they can make money. They claim its to make you “well rounded”. BS its so they can charge you more money. I am HORRIBLE at math. I dropped out of college close to getting a degree because I couldn’t pass the stupid college algebra. Ok so I’m bad at math. Why can’t I get a degree in anything but for one class? Oh and Texas and its stupid test system. Yet another way to make you take more classes they can charge you for. Thank you Ross Perot.

Would you rather a nurse have a complete understanding of your meds or beowulf? A friend of mine from London said they don’t have these issues. They only take the classes they need for their degree.

Superb headline.

He crashed our party last night so I retired early. Now here he is again. Can we call the cops or something???

My brother is retraining by getting an ultrasound technician AA at the local community college.

A friend warned us away from the for-profit colleges for the degree, which would cost another $20,000 and actually prepares one ill for being hired.

That’s right: $20,000 more for a degree that leaves would leave you underqualifed to be hired, no less do the job.