Maggie's Farm

In regards to PhD programs (and higher education in general) being fun (even if it is nonproductive in terms of getting a job) as long as somebody else is paying for it. This is the problem with Newt's suggestion (and the current administration's dogma) that it's OK to hand out 99 weeks of unemployment benefits as long as the recipient is pursuing an educational program. If somebody else is paying for it, the "student" really isn't bothered by the fact that the education expense may be "wasted". Indeed, when it is mandated by the government that unemployment benefits be spent in this manner, the schools realize that they can raise tuition because a greater number of potential students will not have the option of spending their dollars elsewhere. Furthermore, mandating that unemployment benefits be used in this manner is one more example of social engineering by the feds that is bound to fail. Maybe the big government types who think they know what's best for everybody should inform Bill Gates that he made a mistake by dropping out of school to start Microsoft.

Who gets to decide which majors are favored for loans and which are not? This is just more social engineering by bureaucrats who have less insight on what an individual should major in than the individual himself. No doubt, some will argue that those majors in areas where there are job shortages should be favored. However, this is short sighted. To borrow from my previous example, when Bill Gates was in college, the "experts" would have never suggested that there was a shortage of computer scientists. Now, as for grades being a determinant for loans, this will make grade inflation an even bigger problem than it is now as college administrators will encourage professors to hand out "A"s so that their school can attract more students receiving loans that pay inflated tuitions.