At age 44, I went back to school to finish my BA. My advisor told me that if I wanted to teach at college level (which was my goal), I needed to get a PhD. So I did. Seven years from one degree to the next and accumulating debt all the way. While writing my dissertation I was able to teach as an adjunct at City College but when I finished w/ my doctorate in hand, I was unable to find a FT teaching position anywhere, despite having 2 years of teaching under my belt. I sold my home and moved away in hopes of finding a position. No luck. Seems most of academia is relying on adjuncts to fill positions as cheap labor. Teaching FT as an adjunct equaled $9k a semester - seriously below the poverty line.
I'm still proud that I have my PhD but I have not used it the way I had hoped. I do not have the career I went to school for. Meanwhile, my debt is HUGE. It grew by $50k just in interest. That's insane. This 2-year moratorium on repayment has been a blessing and I have no idea what I'll do when I have to start repaying again.
We definitely need to promote trade schools and celebrate those who choose this path.
Higher Ed needs to stop being for profit.
Tenure needs to be reconsidered. Schools can't afford to keep up with it so they pass on the cost to students and then students can't afford the school. Besides, this was a system put in place by old white men who still discriminate against women and people of color when deciding tenure.
Even if school debt isn't canceled, the interest rate needs to be eliminated. Allowing students to borrow interest-free is the least the government can do to ensure we have enough qualified people in positions that require higher education.
It hurts me too. Especially when I hear what students of my own are going through just to stay in school. But the health care debacle in our country is even more obscene because getting sick is not a choice...
This hurts me. Viscerally. NO ONE in the world’s richest country should be living in a car or on the street. Here in Italy, college is maybe 3000 USD a year, often less expensive even than that. Healthcare is free. And I will be the first to say that Italy doesn’t exactly have its shit together. But it does have that.
So WTF are we doing in the US? We are failing our students from preschool all the way. 54% of Americans can’t read past a sixth grade level. We are DROWNING. We are Balkanized. And we are being fleeced.
At age 44, I went back to school to finish my BA. My advisor told me that if I wanted to teach at college level (which was my goal), I needed to get a PhD. So I did. Seven years from one degree to the next and accumulating debt all the way. While writing my dissertation I was able to teach as an adjunct at City College but when I finished w/ my doctorate in hand, I was unable to find a FT teaching position anywhere, despite having 2 years of teaching under my belt. I sold my home and moved away in hopes of finding a position. No luck. Seems most of academia is relying on adjuncts to fill positions as cheap labor. Teaching FT as an adjunct equaled $9k a semester - seriously below the poverty line.
I'm still proud that I have my PhD but I have not used it the way I had hoped. I do not have the career I went to school for. Meanwhile, my debt is HUGE. It grew by $50k just in interest. That's insane. This 2-year moratorium on repayment has been a blessing and I have no idea what I'll do when I have to start repaying again.
We definitely need to promote trade schools and celebrate those who choose this path.
Higher Ed needs to stop being for profit.
Tenure needs to be reconsidered. Schools can't afford to keep up with it so they pass on the cost to students and then students can't afford the school. Besides, this was a system put in place by old white men who still discriminate against women and people of color when deciding tenure.
Even if school debt isn't canceled, the interest rate needs to be eliminated. Allowing students to borrow interest-free is the least the government can do to ensure we have enough qualified people in positions that require higher education.
It hurts me too. Especially when I hear what students of my own are going through just to stay in school. But the health care debacle in our country is even more obscene because getting sick is not a choice...
This hurts me. Viscerally. NO ONE in the world’s richest country should be living in a car or on the street. Here in Italy, college is maybe 3000 USD a year, often less expensive even than that. Healthcare is free. And I will be the first to say that Italy doesn’t exactly have its shit together. But it does have that.
So WTF are we doing in the US? We are failing our students from preschool all the way. 54% of Americans can’t read past a sixth grade level. We are DROWNING. We are Balkanized. And we are being fleeced.