Thursday, September 3, 2009

Back-to-School Series: Hi Mom, Send Money!

I don't know, kiddo; I'm getting conflicting signals (sigh) from the newspaper!

"Student debt load manageable, study says" by New York Times | August 12, 2009

How sad that I'm prone to believe the opposite right from the start.


NEW YORK - .... “People think students are drowning in debt, and there is a small proportion of students that borrow an exorbitant amount, but most students graduate with a manageable debt load,’’ said Sandy Baum, an author of the brief.

Why should they even be in debt at all?

BANKS get TRILLIONS and the KID CAN'T EVEN get a CLEAN SLATE SEND-OFF with his worthless degree!?


For bachelor’s degree recipients who did borrow, the median loan debt was $19,999, up 5 percent....

It always the same old agenda serving the same old masters.


Overall, the median student loan debt of borrowers in 2007-08 was $15,123, up 11 percent....

What is sad is THERE ARE NO JOBS WAITING for them!


But debt levels rose far more sharply for students in for-profit colleges, and for students earning certificates and two-year degrees....

So they squeezed the local community college, 'eh? That explains the frantic appeal for donations around here.


For-profit colleges
, which have grown rapidly over the last decade, acquire much of their revenue from federal aid....

Translation: as in the health field, TAXPAYER LOOT is being RIPPED OFF -- this time in the name of ejerkashun!


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Also see:
A Real World Ejerkashun

Student Loan Scam

And if the debt is so manageable, why are the kids and their parents asking for more help?

"College students going back at schools for more aid; Layoffs, pay cuts have sparked a rise in appeals" by Emma Brown and Daniel de Vise, Washington Post | August 21, 2009

WASHINGTON - College students are appealing financial aid decisions this summer in unprecedented numbers, an outpouring of need that underscores how layoffs and pay cuts have battered household budgets in the past year....

Wait a minute. The KID is being TURNED DOWN?

Have any BANKS been TURNED DOWN?

Where did ALL THAT LOAN $$$ GO, anyway?

Sarah Bauder, financial aid director at the University of Maryland, said one of her clients is the child of a real estate mogul who lost everything; another is a family fleeced in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme....

Un-real! Un-frikkin'-real!

See: Your Madoff Minute

Boo-hoo-hoo for the (rhymes with) hoo.

Families increasingly have stretched their finances to pay college tuition, which has been rising faster than inflation for years.

Here is why (sorry, 'murkn):

VenCap Vroom-Vroom

Yeah, YOU WAS ROBBED AGAIN!!!!

But this year has been particularly difficult, as college savings plans have tumbled amid stock market losses....

And they haven't come back! But these have!

Aid appeals are coming from across the spectrum of salary and class. Students are appealing for aid at $8,000-a-year state schools and $30,000 private institutions alike.

Some types of aid are essentially unlimited, guaranteed by the federal government to any student who demonstrates sufficient need. Help is not available to everyone who wants it....

Translation: If you are taxpaying citizen, you are out of luck.

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"For UMass students, a welcome financial relief; Undergraduates to get $1,100 rebate" by Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent | August 8, 2009

Seems like a lot, but wait until the post is complete before rendering judgment.

The University of Massachusetts is giving about 20,000 undergraduates a rebate of $1,100 this year after federal stimulus money made up a cut in state funding, university officials said....

Except, THAT IS NOT STIMULUS!

Stimulus LEAVES a GOING CONCERN in place that will KEEP PRODUCING PRODUCTS and JOBS!

UMass President Jack Wilson:

“This means a lot to families. We really wanted to keep our fee increases at or below inflation level, and we’re excited we’re actually able to do that.’’

Please remember that guy, 'kay? He might be able to help you out later.

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But some still thought a UMass degree was good value for the money....

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! That's why they laugh when they see it on the resume!

But with stimulus funds representing only a one-year fix, fee hikes or cuts may have to be reconsidered in 2011, officials said.

“It’s definitely buying us time,’’ Wilson said. “We have to use this stimulus money to make a soft landing next year. We can’t wait until the situation is upon us.’’

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Maybe, YOU WOULD LIKE to CHIP in a FEW THOU, Jack?!!!


"UMass employees top list of highest-paid state workers; Patrick ranked 1,076th in tally" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | February 11, 2009

More than 175 state employees were paid $200,000 or more last year, including more than 150 University of Massachusetts administrators and professors, 13 of whom made $400,000 or more, according to a payroll report released yesterday.

The state's top earner was Derek Lovley, associate dean of UMass-Amherst's College of Natural Resources and the Environment. Lovley, a specialist on biofuels, made $613,000, according to data made public yesterday by the state's Office of the Comptroller. He was followed by UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael F. Collins, who made $609,000.

Yes, the ENVIRO-FRAUDSTERS ARE COSTING YOU in SO MANY WAYS!!

LIES are HARMFUL no matter WHAT THEY ARE!!!

Five other UMass administrators were paid between $459,000 and $549,000, followed by UMass president Jack Wilson, who received $436,000.

Can you SPARE a DIME, Jack?

And why five unmentioned, Globe? Who you protecting this time?

Also among the top earners was James Julian, UMass executive vice president and former chief of staff to former Senate president William M. Bulger. Julian joined Bulger when Bulger became the school's president in early 1996.

Also among the state's highest moneymakers were the head basketball coach at UMass, Derek Kellogg, who made $260,000, and the school's head football coach, Donald A. Brown, who made $233,000.

Is that REALLY the BEST USE of the UNIVERSITY'S MONEY!!!

I'LL DO the JOB for A LOT LESS!!!!!

Brown left to take a coaching job with the University of Maryland. The university's athletic director, Dana Skinner, made $192,000, while the men's head ice hockey coach, Blaise MacDonald, was paid $178,000.

Wow! That's a lot for HOCKEY!!!

Robert Connolly, UMass spokesman, who was paid $163,000 last year, wrote in an e-mail that the system pays its employees in a "competitive range" with other state universities around the country.

Oh, I COULD THAT for a LOT LESS!!!!


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