College Debt for Life?

When I was in college in the '80s the growth rate for college tuition was 10% much higher than the rate of inflation at the time. And it appears that things have not changed since then. The cost of college continues to growth faster than anything else and beyond reasonable expectations (see graph at right).

The result is that many Americans now graduate with a huge debt that takes decades to pay back and prevents them from buying a house and otherwise establishing a normal middle-class life.

What was new to me this morning is that even senior citizens are affected by college debt. SmartMoney.com reports the Federal government is docking an increasing number of Social Security payments to pay back college loans, up to 15% of the monthly benefit. Now these are not deadbeat seniors who failed to pay back their own loan after 40 years but rather parents & grandparents who co-signed loans for their children or grandchildren.

So beware, co-signing a loan can follow you into retirement!

A problem with California Universities?

Check out this youTube presentation/animation about CA schools: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5jNK0IKdfg&feature=youtu.be

Here's a summary:

Nationally, in the past 5 years, college costs (tuition, fees, room & board) have increased by 28%. That is way above inflation but it gets worse. In California for the same five years, costs have increased by 63%.

It used to be that a college education was worth the cost. You would get a higher paying job and more than earn back the cost. But today 53% of young adults aged 18-24 are living with their parents and many are either unemployed or underemployed.

Also alarming is the increasing time to graduation. In only six CA schools did a majority of the students graduate in 4 years.  In 13 of 23 schools, half the students had failed to graduate in 6 years! Is this because the standards are higher? No, quite the opposite. Few schools have any requirements for economics or government and students leave quite ignorant about our country's history, its government, and what federal programs cost. Instead they study Spider Man, Mad Men, and the History of Middle Earth. They leave school weak in math, weak in science, with no language skills. Did they learn critical thinking? Not likely. Many classes teach to liberal biases and dissenting thought is squashed.

The University administrators who created this mess are well compensated with Presidents earning $400,000 and all senior admin at 100,000 and above. At many schools the number of administrators now out number the teachers.

Gloomy Economic News

I saw many articles this weekend that the global economy is not recovering any time soon. We may have wait several years for the "sun to come out tommorrow."
No End in Sight to Global Jobs Crisis: UN Agency

"The global employment market that shows no sign of recovering, the International Labour Organization said on Sunday. In advanced countries, especially in Europe, employment is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels of 2008 until the end of 2016"

95 Percent Of The Jobs Lost During The Recession Were Middle Class Jobs

A higher percentage of Americans are working low income jobs than ever before, and the cost of living continues to rise at a very brisk pace. This is causing an erosion of the middle class unlike anything we have ever seen in American history. ... [for] college graduates, the future is not so bright. Last year, a staggering 53 percent of all U.S. college graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed.

Hugh Hendry On Europe "You Can't Make Up How Bad It Is"

We have reached a profound point in economic history where the truth is unpalatable to the political class - and that truth is that the scale and magnitude of the problem is larger than their ability to respond - and it terrifies them.

Free Online Education

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own.
And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go.”
- Dr. Seuss

The blog, Marc and Angel Hack Life, Practical Tips for Production Living, list over 100 Internet sites that offer free classes, lectures, books, or research materials online.
http://www.marcandangel.com/2010/11/15/12-dozen-places-to-self-educate-yourself-online/

 I've used a few of them

MIT OpenCourseWare – MIT OpenCourseWare is a free web-based publication of MIT course materials that reflects almost all the undergraduate and graduate subjects taught at MIT.

<amazing amount of subjects and I still learned something after 20 years in the computer science.>

Khan Academy – Over 1200 videos lessons covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, and biology.

<aimed at High School and Undergraduate level>

The USGenWeb Project – Free genealogy and family history resources online.

One Minute Languages – Learn a new language via podcasts that are updated regularly.

TED – Motivational and educational lectures from noteworthy professionals around the world.

Project Gutenberg – More than 20,000 free books from the first producer of free e-books.

Weather Channel – You can learn about weather all over the world, but the Weather Channel also offers dynamic content based upon seasons and special conditions and a special multimedia and education section.

Bottom Line

Many of our greatest men were self taught, Lincoln, Thoreau, DaVinci, Einstein, Newton. Many are considered genius but they became that way because they read and studied on their own time and of their own passion.

Please don't burn down the Dormitory!

I'm an ordinary guy
Burning down the house
-Talking Heads song

When you sent your young son or daughter off to college this year, one of the last thing you'll want to hear is that they burned down the dormitory building. Most college students lack knowledge about fire safety and prevention (and may lack common sense in general). Students may think it's cool to burn candles or incense and it's also cool to get plastered drunk. These don't mix well. In more than 50% of adult fire fatalities, victims were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the fire. Alcohol impairs judgment and hampers evacuation efforts.

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) offers these tips:

Cooking is the leading cause of fire injuries on college campuses, closely followed by careless smoking and arson. Students are careless with ashes or fall asleep with a lit cigarette.

Many factors contribute to the problem of dormitory housing fires.

• Improper use of 911 notification systems delays emergency response.
• Student apathy is prevalent. Many are unaware that fire is a risk or threat in the environment.
• Evacuation efforts are hindered since fire alarms are often ignored.
• Building evacuations are delayed due to lack of preparation and preplanning.
• Vandalized and improperly maintained smoke alarms and fire alarm systems inhibit early detection of fires.
• Misuse of cooking appliances (In my college days we evacuated for a fire caused by food forgotten on a stove downstairs.)
• Overloaded electrical circuits and extension cords increase the risk of fires.

Bottom Line Safety Precautions

• Teach your kids how to properly notify the fire department using the 911 system.
• If you can visit the college, inspect your child's room for fire hazards like overloaded electrical outlets.
• Know the location of emergency exit doors and windows.
• Urge your kids to take each alarm seriously and to participate in fire drills.
• Teach safe cooking techniques. Don't encourage cooking in dorm rooms.

Neural Biology

With the thoughts you'd be thinkin'
You could be another Lincoln
If you only had a brain
- Dorothy to the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz

My latest commuting lecture series is Biology and human behavior : the neurological origins of individuality by Professor Robert Sapolsky. It's fun to listen to but I have mixed feelings about not watching it on DVD.

1. Reason to watch DVD: The professor makes frequent references to displays, "as you can see on the right...". Fortunately most (all?) charts are in the course book.

2. Reason not to watch DVD: The professor is very entertaining but visually distracting. (see image).

With each lecture Sapolsky introduces a new part of our mental anatomy and explains what can go wrong with too little or too much information to the brain.

The Great Courses webpage says,
"The course opens with an introductory lecture and then proceeds to Modules I and II, which start at the level of how a single neuron works. You build upward to examine how millions of neurons in a particular region of the brain operate. The focus is on the regions of the brain most pertinent to emotion and behavior.

Modules III, IV, and V explore how the brain and behavior are regulated. First, you cover how the brain regulates hormones and how hormones influence brain function and behavior. Next you examine how both the brain and behavior evolved, covering contemporary thinking about how natural selection has sculpted and optimized behavior and how that optimization is mediated by brain function. Then you focus on a bridge between evolution and the brain, investigating what genes at the molecular level have to do with brain function and how those genes have evolved.

Module VI examines ethology, which is the study of the behavior of animals in their natural habitats. The focus in these lectures is on how hormones, evolution, genes, and behavior are extremely sensitive to environment.

Finally, Module VII explores how the various approaches—neurobiology, neuroendocrinology, evolution, genetics, and ethology—help explain an actual set of behaviors, with a particular focus on aggression. The final lecture summarizes what is known about the biology of human behavior and probes the societal implications of having such knowledge."

Bottom Line

The human brain & body are amazingly complex.

Parkinson’s Law

Parkinson’s Laws: “All bureaucracies grow 3% per year, unrelated to the job they are supposed to perform.”

I had never heard of Parkinson's Law of Bureaucracy but I believe it. There is way too much bureaucracy in this world. Instapundit cited this comment on "administrative blight":

In his polemic, The Fall of the Faculty: The Rise of the All-Administrative University and Why It Matters (Oxford University Press), Benjamin Ginsberg, David Bernstein Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University, takes stock of what ails higher education and finds a single, unifying cause: the growth of administration. Ginsberg bemoans the expansion over the past 30 years of what he calls “administrative blight” as personified by what he characterizes as an army of “deanlets” and “deanlings.” By virtue of their sheer number and their managerial rather than academic orientation, Ginsberg argues, these administrators have served to marginalize the faculty in carrying out tasks related to personnel and curriculum that once sat squarely in their domain.

Others wrote in to say they see the same problem in many companies.

Bottom Line

What excesses of bureaucracy have you seen?

Ramen

"Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better."

-Robert Redford

As a child and young adult I enjoyed Ramen. It's a quick and easy meal. Later while working in Manhattan I was introduced to Noodle Houses which serve delightfully flavored bowls of noodles with your choice of toppings. Now I can bring these two experiences together thanks to Ramen Hacks: 30+ Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Instant Noodles.

The article describes many (30?) excellent ideas for enhancing ramen. One secret is having a great broth base. I ordered noodle soup at a Japanese fusion bistro and was shocked to find it had zero flavor. Perhaps a clean, simple taste is popular in Japan but I like my broth to be complexly flavored. Here's some things to add instead of the highly salted packets that come with Ramen.

• Miso paste
• Chili bean sauce
• Thai curry paste
• Japanese curry powder
• Fish sauce or Oyster sauce
• Harrisa (a Tunisian hot chilli sauce common in North African cooking)
• Vinegar (especially flavored vinegars)
• Ponzu (a Japanese citrus-based sauce)

And ...

• Spices like white pepper, sichuan pepper, or chili flakes added to the finished dish, or a cinnamon stick, star anise, and coriander seeds added to the simmering broth (remove 'em before serving!)
• Fats like toasted sesame oil, chili oil, or an animal fat like pork, chicken, or duck.
• Citrus juices—a quick squeeze of lemon or lime right before serving brightens flavors.

A great broth will excite all 5 flavors - sweet, sour (vinegar), bitter (citrus), salty and umame (meat protein) as well as having a bit of heat (chilli).

And ... don't forget to add toppings like eggs, meat and vegetables.

The article concludes with ideas for using Ramen as a noodle base (or topping) for other dishes. With care you can make stir-fried and cold noodle dishes. Stop cooking the ramen just before it's completely done, then drain it. It'll continue to soften from the residual heat, as well as cooking further when you stir-fry it.
* Create Pad Thai by stir-frying semi-cooked ramen with fish sauce, peanuts, vegetables, and a touch of lime and tamarind paste

Other ideas include ramen salad, ramen spaghetti, ramen tacos, and much more.

Bottom Line

Ramen is a great emergency food. It keeps "forever" if you can keep it safe from bugs and mice by storing it in airtight containers. And it just needs hot water to cook.

But please don't think of Ramen as a health food. There's 400 calories if you eat a whole bag and nearly a day's worth of salt in the seasoning packet.

Comparing Apples to Oranges

“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”
- John F. Kennedy

I've been closely following events in Wisconsin regarding Governor Walker vs the Public Sector Unions (notably Teachers) but have resisted blogging about it because it's a hot button topic for many people. What did catch my eye that I would like to share is the battle over statistics. Both sides have their talking points and "facts" to back them up. And when "facts" are challenged, neither side is eager to cede the point and admit error. So bad "facts" persist and keep being used in arguments.

A blog post by IowaHawk takes to task Paul Krugman, Nobel Winning Economist, who writes for The New York Times. Krugman wrote,

Only 5 states do not have collective bargaining for educators and have deemed it illegal. Those states and their ranking on ACT/SAT scores are as follows:
South Carolina – 50th
North Carolina – 49th
Georgia – 48th
Texas – 47th
Virginia – 44th

This is very damming evidence and a popular statistic used by pro-Union teachers. But IowaHawk dives deeper into the numbers. He notes that a student's race is a bigger factor on SAT scores than teacher performance.

A state's "average ACT/SAT" is, for all intents and purposes, a proxy for the percent of white people who live there.

Statistically, on average, white students get higher ACT/SAT scores.This has nothing to do with innate ability or genetics or aptitude of individuals. Instead economic differences (poverty), racism, family environment, and other society biases are to blame.

Wisconsin is 4% Black and 4% Hispanic. Texas is 12% black and 30% Hispanic. Since race influences average ACT/SAT scores, to make a fair comparison, students in the two states should be compared by race.

Here are numbers from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), an annual standardized test given to 4th and 8th graders around the country to measure proficiency in math, science, and reading.

2009 8th Grade Math
White students: Texas 301, Wisconsin 294 (national 294)
Black students: Texas 272, Wisconsin 254 (national 260)
Hispanic students: Texas 277, Wisconsin 268 (national 260)

There are more stats at IowaHawk for 4th grade & 8th grade Math, Reading and Science but the numbers displayed here are typical. Within racial groups, all Texas students are above the national average and score better than Wisconsin. In Wisconsin the White students perform at or slightly above the national average, Hispanics above the average, and Black students below the average.

So instead of showing that Union Teachers are better, a nationalized 4th/8th grade test shows that Wisconsin produces average White students and poorly scoring Black students. Is this the final answer? Perhaps not. Perhaps a better Statistician will analyze the scores a different way to show something new and revealing.

For example other blogs point out another interesting difference in the SAT scores for Wisconsin vs Texas.
In 2010 Wisconsin placed 3rd in the nation on SAT scores. But only 4% of Wisconsin students took the SAT. This is known as selection bias. When only the best take a test, of course they perform better. 67% of Wisconsin students took the ACT and this dropped Wisconsin to 13th place. Still very, very good but it shows the difference that can occur in ranking depending on which students are tested.  In Texas 53% of all students took the SAT and 30% took the ACT.

Katherine Levin, a College Board spokeswoman for SAT calls comparisons between states "invalid" since the students taking the test are self-selected.

Levin, Feb. 25: Media and others often rank states, districts and schools on the basis of SAT scores despite repeated warnings that such rankings are invalid. The SAT is a strong indicator of trends in the college-bound population, but it should never be used alone for such comparisons because demographics and other nonschool factors can have a strong effect on scores. If ranked, schools and states that encourage students to apply to college may be penalized because scores tend to decline with a rise in percentage of test-takers.

Yet another factor to consider is poverty. Texas ranks 8th in most residents living below the poverty line. Wisconsin is 38th. So instead of saying Union teachers produce better college scores, we could use WI vs TX to prove that rich kids score better than poor kids.

Bottom Line

Beware of any argument based upon comparing "averages" without knowing the population mix behind the average. For example I could compare two colleges and show that students at A are on average shorter than B; so B must be biased against short people. What I don't reveal is that A is an all-girl school and B is not. Since girls are shorter on average than boys, this will pull down the total height average for school A.

Suppose the Ivy League schools argued that they had the most talented professors because their students (on average) get more of the most prestigious and well-paying jobs. The professors would be ignoring the fact that many of the brightest students, and students from the richest and best socially connected families, attend Harvard & Yale. So teaching ability could be just average and yet selection bias and social advantages give the students a preference in hiring. Some Wall Street firms hire ONLY from the Ivy League and look what resulted - a near collapse of the Financial System in 2008.

Update

A report showing it's the student, not the college, that determines success.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/03/more-evidence-going-fancy-college-doesnt-pay

Deep Thought

"O Deep Thought computer," he said, "the task we have designed you to perform is this. We want you to tell us...." he paused, "The Answer."
"The Answer?" said Deep Thought. "The Answer to what?"
"Life!" urged Fook. "The Universe!" said Lunkwill. "Everything!" they said in chorus.
Deep Thought paused for a moment's reflection. "Tricky," he said finally.
"But can you do it?"
Again, a significant pause. "Yes," said Deep Thought, "I can do it. ... But, I'll have to think about it."
Ford glanced impatiently at his watch. "How long?" he said.
"Seven and a half million years."
- Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Over at Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds has adopted (coined?) the phrase, "Credentialed, Not Educated" to describe our nation's Ivy League leaders that see themselves as uber-intelligent from the best schools but in reality are clueless on the real world. He points to an editorial in the Washington Post, Our superficial scholars, that makes a similar point about today's top students.

"For most of the past 20 years I have served on selection committees for the Rhodes Scholarship. ... We interview the best graduates of U.S. universities for one of the most prestigious honors that can be bestowed on young scholars. ... I have, however, become increasingly concerned in recent years ... high-achieving students seem less able to grapple with issues that require them to think across disciplines or reflect on difficult questions about what matters and why."

The editorial gives some examples of students with very narrow focus who have never considered alternative points of view or the consequences of their goals:

"An outstanding biochemistry major wants to be a doctor and supports the president's health-care bill but doesn't really know why. A student who started a chapter of Global Zero at his university hasn't really thought about whether a world in which great powers have divested themselves of nuclear weapons would be more stable or less so, or whether nuclear deterrence can ever be moral. A young service academy cadet who is likely to be serving in a war zone within the year believes there are things worth dying for but doesn't seem to have thought much about what is worth killing for. A student who wants to study comparative government doesn't seem to know much about the important features and limitations of America's Constitution."

Bottom Line

Again from the editorial,

"I wish I could say that this is a single, anomalous group of students, but the trend is unmistakable. Our great universities seem to have redefined what it means to be an exceptional student. They are producing top students who have given very little thought to matters beyond their impressive grasp of an intense area of study. This narrowing has resulted in a curiously unprepared and superficial pre-professionalism. ... [The students] seem so surprised when asked simple direct questions that they have never considered."

Although I belong to a church that is traditionally very conservative, locally we have several very liberal families in positions of leadership. One night after Cub Scouts in the church building, I enjoyed a conversion with several young teens from these families. They were discussing the evils of the world. "War and McDonalds should be outlawed," one said. [McDonalds?!!!, that caught my attention.] "Well then," I replied, what will you do to countries that break the law and start an illegal war? They had not thought of that.

Another replied, "If I were in charge of the universe, I'd make war impossible."  "How would you do that," I asked, "without destroying the agency of man?" The freedom to choose (right or wrong) is a keystone of our faith. It is very tempting (but wrong) to destroy personal agency for the greater good.

A third said, "I wish everyone were Intelligent. Intelligent people would not kill." To which I observed she had not yet read, Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, in which a young man murders an "evil person" for the "good of society" just to prove how intelligent and superior he is.

I encouraged the youth to keep thinking. The topic of war and violence is deadly serious (pun intended) with no easy solutions. You can't just wish it away or or eliminate it with "proper education" or ban it with legislation. But is definitely worth Deep Thought.

Sadly, today's schools are not teaching and not requiring deep thought.

Self Segregation

"If I have a cup of coffee that is too strong for me because it is too black, I weaken it by pouring cream into it."

- Malcolm X

Most humans are tribal animals. While some individuals are extroverts who love to mix and mingle, the majority of people form cliches and stay within their circle of friends. My wife and I observed this frequently in square dancing. When we visited another club, few of the natives wanted to dance with "the strangers". When we attended a square dancing weekend, dancers ate and danced with fellow members of their ownclub. One of the few times we saw true mixing was at a national convention where everyone was an outsider.

Cliches form on many levels. You may have your set of "church friends" or fellow parents of the same PTA at school. I also observed this while a graduate student at the University of Michigan. A dorm where I was a Resident Assistant had a "Black Pride Room".  I was suprised that there were students who wanted to be seperate, who endorsed (and wore T-shirts of) the Malcom X quote above that warns against mixing whites and blacks together. The university supported this self-seperation; one semester I taught a class called "Mathematics for Minority Engineers." This seemed to me, to be contrary to years of Integration efforts but the students liked it.

Bottom Line

Although people say they want to live in a color-blind world, in reality they tend to self-segregate. Look at this graph of census data from the NY Times, http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/explorer?ref=us.  Within NYC I was amazed at how solid the racial zones are for whites, hispanics and blacks. Some of the outlying cities like Newark are also uni-racial.

Avoid College?

“You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does..."” - Guitarist Tom Petty

DailyFinance.com has an interesting article titled, Seven Reasons Not to Send Your Kids to College. I was recently talking with my wife about the NY state HS exams in which 30% more students failed under new grading rules. It's horrible, she said, that so many HS graduates are not prepared for college. I countered that perhaps not everyone should be expected to be college ready. Before WWII, college attendance was mostly for the very rich or those on professional tracks like law and medicine. Everything changed with the GI Bill that paid WWII veterans to get a BA degree. By the next generation it became normal, even expected, for children to go to college and a college degree (of any type) became required for many jobs.

So is college worth the cost? The Seven Reasons article says no.

1. More than 60% of students require more than 4 years to graduate so the cost may be higher than you expect. I wonder if this includes summer classes to makeup low grades?

2. The rate of inflation for college expenses is 10% a year! Since 1976 tuition has increased 9-fold versus 7-fold for health case and three-fold for general inflation. There is fear amongst university administrators that the tuition bubble is about to burst. College is no longer affordable, especially in this great recession.

3. A college graduate can expect to earn $800,000 more over a 45 year career. But if you invest $200,000 at 3% instead of spending it on tuition, room & board, and text books, you'll earn $851,000 over 49 years (45 working + 4 college). So if you put your money in a trust for your child, they may come out ahead.

4. The average debt burden of a graduate is $23,000, up from $13,000 ten years ago. Debt for a professional degree (graduate work) can exceed $200,000. That's a horrible way to start your career.

Not paying for college does not mean encouraging stupidity or idleness. Here are options to consider:

- Send them to a trade school or apprenticeship for profitable work in plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc.

- Allow them to enlist in the military and let it teach your child a trade and pay future college bills.

- Have them apply for a union job. Auto union workers and government union workers are doing quite well financially without college degrees. I know Iraq war veteran who is second generation garbage collector for NYC and is quite happy with the salary and benefits.

- Invest in your child's business venture(s); but require them to present a business plan first. Most attempts will fail - that's normal and they'll learn from the school of hard knocks. Thomas Edison was famous for his many failures but when he succeeded it was big. Ditto for Babe Ruth - he was the strike-out king but when he connected he was also the home run king.

- Give your child money to travel the world or hike through Europe. They'll learn much more about the world than they would from a book or lecture.

- Encourage them to get a blue collar job. They'll learn the value of honest work and the value of money. After a few years they may decide that they want to attend college for a business or management degree - but now they have a goal with experience to back it up. I know a mature TV studio technician who has decided he wants to be lawyer so he can sue his former bosses. He's just completed his BA and will begin work on the law degree. I also know a legal secretary who was sponsored by the law firm she worked at to get a law degree.

- Encourage them to volunteer full-time or go on a mission. The Peace Corp and foreign missions are other ways to see the world.

- Encourage them to educate themself! College level text books can be checked out from the library or purchased used online. There are many excellent online university courses for free. With computer programming there are free code compilers and many free tutorials online. You can teach yourself coding and have all the tools you need for free (except for the computer).

Bottom Line

There's nothing wrong with delaying college until a person is mature enough to appreciate the value of what he/she is getting for the vast amount of money spent. For the self-starter, create a business or product; but be sure to do some reading on business principles or hire good managers. The computer industry is filled with stories of startups who created a great product in their garage, achieved national success, and then failed or were forced out of the company because they had no experience running a large company.

Here's a book on the same topic:
Higher Education?: How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids---and What We Can Do About It

And a related story I just read:

For-Profit Colleges Caught On Video Encouraging Financial Aid Fraud
Investigators found that all 15 colleges investigated "made deceptive or otherwise questionable statements to GAO's undercover applicants," and four of them "encouraged fraudulent practices."
The investigation also found that for-profit colleges are often a waste of money because the same associate's degrees and certificates are usually available at nearby public colleges and community colleges for significantly less. For example:
“A student interested in a massage therapy certificate costing $14,000 at a for-profit college was told that the program was a good value. However the same certificate from a local community college cost $520.”

Clever Icons

Win one for the Gipper!
- Ronald Regan in Knute Rockne: All American
I love good art design and wish I had the imagination for it. My brain is hardwired for seeing "what is" as opposed to wild envisioning. I can copy design tricks and use them but admire people who can create from scratch.
So I enjoyed the web posting, 23 Brilliant Logos With Hidden Messages, by a design artist blogger. The first logo in particular caught my eye. Here's why...
Last weekend my wife and I visited my Freshman roommate from college and his family in State College, PA to see the annual Art Fair. Thanks Mark & Margaret! We had a great time.
State College is home to Penn State, a Land Grant school, and like any good ag school it has an excellent dairy. Mark took us to the college ice cream shop and while there I noticed the flags for all the Big Ten schools including my Alma mater. (As a Michigan State alum it was funny to see "State" logos everywhere and have it mean something quite different than MSU.) I also noticed that there were 11 flags! I don't follow college sports so I was surprised to learn there are 11 schools in the Big Ten! It was aptly 10 back in my day. Penn State joined as #11 in 1990.

Bottom Line

My mathematical mind shudders at 11 schools in the Big Ten but I have to give credit for the clever logo incorporating the number 11. I guess they'll need a new logo next year when the University of Nebraska-Lincoln joins the league.

Update Aug 3
Here's a new list of clever logos
http://designshack.co.uk/articles/graphics/50-fantastically-clever-logos

Trade Schools

“College is like a fountain of knowledge - and the students are there to drink”

A Washington Post story notes that More college-educated jump tracks to become skilled manual laborers.

"They started out studying aerospace engineering, creative writing and urban planning. But somewhere on the path to accumulating academic credentials, they decided that working with their hands sounded more pleasant -- and lucrative -- than a lot of white-collar work. So bye-bye to term papers and graduate theses, and hello to apprenticeships to become plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics
and carpenters."

The poor economy has been a boon for trade schools. The electricians' union program in Washington D.C. has 2,500 applications for 100 slots. And nearly 4,000 are competing for the 300 slots at a plumbers and pipe fitters school.

Pay for trade jobs is good. Apprentices start out at half salary with raises every six months. After five years licensed journeymen can expect to be paid $65,000 to $85,000 a year, depending on the amount of overtime. That beats four+ years of college, graduating deep in debt, and with no job.

In Europe many students begin an apprenticeship at age 18 right out of high school. But in the US, high school counselors rarely recommend trade school (except for their worst students). So American youth try college first and then switch to blue collar. The average age for beginning apprentices in the US is 25.

Bottom Line

This weekend my wife and I bumped into an old friend who is moving in the opposite direction - from blue collar to white collar. He was a long-time union employee at a TV station. However with better technology and greater automation, the station was able to layoff 38 technicians. Now my friend is completing a BS degree in Labor Relations and then plans to study law so he can go back and sue the pants off big companies.

There is merit in having some real-world experience before graduating from college.

Online College Courses

"If you were going to create a college from scratch, what would you do?"

Last Sunday at church an old friend was staring raptly at a bulletin board. "Is there something new posted?", I asked. He pointed to a poster for independent study courses at a church university. "Have you looked at the MIT online courses?", I suggested. To my surprise he had no idea what I was talking about.

MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is one of the leading Universities in America (and in the World). When I was applying to colleges back in the 80's, I read that one-third of the freshmen admitted to MIT had a perfect 800 score on the SAT mathematics test. The college store proudly sells T-shirts that say, "Harvard is for students who couldn't get into MIT".

Given the elite status of the school and the very high cost of tuition, it is very surprising that MIT offers over 1900 courses online for free at
http://ocw.mit.edu/. You can watch entire courses on your computer, buy the text book and do the homework assignments. Some courses include lecture notes and exams. It's a great way to learn science, business, economics, art, history, philosophy, political science, etc. This will take some time however - these are complete college lectures for an hour or more, several times a week, over many months. And your brain may melt if you watch too many in a row without a break.

I bring this up because I learned today of another online education series that has become very popular on YouTube and rivals MIT online for the number of students. It's called the Khan Academy.
http://www.khanacademy.org/

Salman Khan is a 33-year-old who quit his job as a financial analyst to make homemade lecture videos for his friends and relatives. "My single biggest goal," he says, "is to try to deliver things the way I wish they were delivered to me." He now has 1200+ videos on YouTube covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, biology, finance, and history. Lectures are 10 to 20 minutes long and what you see is a digital blackboard upon which Khan draws as he lectures. I recommend starting at his website to see what's available rather than surfing YouTube for them. I've listened to two of his lectures so far and found both to be entertaining and well-done.

Bottom Line

There are many opportunities to learn online. Expand your brain!

Best paying college majors

“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.”-Thomas Berger

Payscale.com has posted a chart and list of salary expectations for people with a Bachelor's degree in a variety of college majors. The chart shows both starting salary (blue) and mid-career salary (grey). For example economics majors earn less than computer programmers with their first job but will surpass them in 20 years or so. The top jobs are almost entirely engineering and science. The first non-science jobs I saw were Marketing at 21 on the list, and International Relations at number 22. Since this list is Bachelor degrees only - you won't see doctors or lawyers.

Bottom Line

Science pays!

It Pays to Be True to Your School

"The university's characteristic state may be summarized by the words of the lady who said, "I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something."-Hanna Holborn Gray

Wisebread.com has an excellent article entitled, It Pays to Be True to Your School: 5 Ways Your Alma Mater Can Save You Money

1. Insurance Discounts
   Many universities have worked out deals with auto, home, life, medical and even pet insurance companies to help their alumni get a discount. When I was unemployed I looked into this. Unfortunately the university insurer did not cover NY state. But if you live near your school and need insurance, check it out.


2. Gym Membership
   If you live near your school you may be able to use the university pool and gym. Some universities have worked out deals with popular national fitness centers for discounted rates.


3. Career Counseling
   Most schools will have a job board and job fairs. Some will also offer counseling to alumni. Earlier this year a student sued her college for being unable to find a job. She claimed the college had not prepared her adequately to be employed.


4. Travel Discounts
   In addition to alumni trip packages, some schools have partnered with travel agencies, airlines, and/or cruise lines to get discounts for their alum.


5. Local and National Coupons
   Most universities have worked out deals for discounts at locally run businesses from restaurants to dry cleaners to pet stores and more. Many schools also have deals with national companies; Costco is popular.

Bottom Line

You paid a lot for college - get some of that money back.

Also, don't lose touch with college friends and college connections. Use facebook, linkedin and other social networks to find lost friends.

Expensive Colleges

“A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students.” - John Ciardi

I thought college was expensive nearly 30 years ago when I attended. I also learned then that there is an “education inflation rate” that is always higher than national inflation rate. Back in the 80’s the rate of educational inflation was 10%. So it should come as no surprise that rates today are outrageous. With tuition hikes outpacing the growth of household incomes year after year. student borrowing has doubled in the past decade.

Here are the most expensive colleges by total cost for the 2009-2010 school year from CampusGrotto.com

Total Cost = Tuition + Room and Board
1. Sarah Lawrence College, $54,410
2. New York University, $51,991
3. The George Washington University, $51,730
4. Bates College, $51,300
5. Skidmore College, $51,196
6. Johns Hopkins University, $51,190
7. Georgetown University, $51,122
8. Connecticut College, $51,115
9. Harvey Mudd College, $51,037
10. Vassar College, $50,875

The lowest total cost in the top 100 most expensive schools was $46,860 for just a single year of study.

Bottom Line

See The Rising Cost of Education for more information and what to do.

See also my post on Student Loans

Student Loans

“It's easy to get a loan unless you need it.” - Norman R. Augustine

On Instapundit.com I learned some things about student loans that I did not know.

“They’re the worst debt you can get — huge, at unattractive interest rates, and non-bankruptable.” – Instapundit.com

The New York Times reports

“Thousands of recent graduates have been unable to find jobs or are earning too little to cover the payments for loans that are sometimes as high as $50,000 … as many borrowers have learned, student loans are among the most ironclad debts, on par with child support, alimony and overdue taxes. They stick with you no matter what … Even death isn’t a good enough excuse for discharging some private loan debts. And the government can wield a heavy hand to collect what it is due: If you fail to repay your federal loans, it can garnish up to 15 percent of your wages or take your tax refund or part of your Social Security benefits.”

About two-thirds of graduating students will have a loan to pay off (typical size is $22,500 but the NYT describes one student who managed to get $150,000 into debt.). Sadly, loans are unavoidable for most students due to outrageous fees. When I was in college tuition rates rose much faster than the rate of inflation and my school still had record enrollment and overcrowded dorm rooms. Families were willing to pay any price for college degrees.

Here are some options to reduce the debt:

• Invest early in a 529 Investment plan – it’s like a 401K for college. With favorable tax incentives, you put away money when your child is young and can only spend it when they reach college age. When college investment plans were first advertised I recall that you were locked into a single college (i.e send money to MIT when your child is born.) But SavingForCollege.com claims that with a 529 plan, “you can be a CA resident, invest in a VT plan and send your student to college in NC.”
  
• Earn a National Merit Scholarship via the PSAT test. Of the 1.5 million entrants, some 50,000 with the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Whether you get any money is up to the colleges you apply to and their standards. I was offered a 4-year Merit Scholarship from Michigan State University that covered most tuition costs but no merit scholarship for Cornell University. When Cornell called me to ask why I had rejected their acceptance, the answer was simple - I couldn’t afford them.
  
• Apply for the “needs” based Federal Pell Grant. If you can prove to the government that you are poor enough, you might get a Pell Grant.
  
• Check with the Financial Aid department of the colleges you apply to for any unusual funds that you’re eligible for. Alumni may leave scholarship money for American Indian applicants, children of Rotary members, etc. Check also with local organizations and local companies, like Lions Club, for scholarships.
  
• Students should get a summer job. When I graduated, Harris Corporation offered “scholarship” internships to top students from local high schools. I ended up working for Harris for five summers. To maximize the paycheck I worked 2nd and 3rd shifts for the extra pay differential.
  
• Students can work at college. I worked in the dorm cafeteria my freshman year. The following year I returned to campus too late and all cafeteria positions were already assigned. I walked directly to the office of the head of my department (mathematics) and asked for a job. He said yes and that began nearly 10 years of teaching starting as assistant and leading to class instructor and course coordinator. A dorm friend of mine, an engineering student, got a job at college soldering electronics and said the hands on experience was great.
  
• Live cheap - buy used books and avoid spending money on frills. Cheap can also mean choosing a state school were you live to get a lower resident rate, living with your parents, and or going to a community college for your first two years. Yes there are some snobbish jobs that prefer Ivy League graduates but in the long run the name of the school won’t matter so long as the education was good. I’ve looked at resumes of job applicants from Russia, India, Canada, etc. I know nothing about the reputation of the schools they attended so instead I look at past job history and their ability to answer questions during the interview.

Bottom Line

If you have a Student Loan and are unable to make payments, read the complete NYT story, Student Loans. There is detailed advice on steps you can take with different lenders to get a deferment and forbearance.

For more information on 529 plans check out morningstar.com
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=287783

Avoiding a loan is NOT easy. I managed to cover expenses without one but only by working summers at Harris Corp, working the rest of the year at college, living very cheap and having a Merit Scholarship. I was very lucky.