5.07.2010

The Great Education Scam, continued

We've written before about the education scam, wherein students are conned by colleges and the government into taking on a lifetime of debt for a vastly overpriced education.

Now Anonymous sends this story:
Drake College of Business, a for-profit higher-education company based in New Jersey, suspended its recruiting of students from homeless shelters while accreditors scrutinize the practice.

Closely held Drake, which trains medical and dental assistants, relied on taxpayers for 87% of revenue in 2007 through federal financial aid programs. Almost 5% of the student body at its Newark, N.J., branch is homeless, said Jean Aoun, director of admissions and student services. In 2008, Drake began offering a $350 biweekly stipend to students who showed up for 80% of classes and got C's for their work, Bloomberg Businessweek reported last week.

Just as with the subprime house lending, easy credit in the education sector not only creates extreme price inflation, but also brings out the crooks and scammers.

2 comments:

the darkcloud said...

Nice one, WC.

This subject is a HUGE malaise in our society, and it plays out on the financial innocence of far too many.

Steve Miller's "Take the Money and Run" always comes to mind: these students - and a lot of parents - are really played.

Anonymous said...

They are market makers. They take people (decent and nice enough people who just happen to be so/so on the education scale) and create an illusion. They funnel them into schools that would positively dry up and die were there no government backed debt, ahem loan, programs that allows them to recruit students to attend and subscribe to education outlets. This creates artificial (but real) demand for a commodity (higher education) and creates large pools of debt to be repaid. IMHO, many of the students are simultaneously building their own prison cell while they become “educated”. Some will actually benefit. A large number will not. Those holding the notes for repayment have succeeded in enslaving a generation in the most devious way – the enslaved don’t know they are becoming enslaved until it is too late. Like a frog in a pot of water where the temperature is very gradually turned up. Going bluegill fishing now – Happy Mother’s Day.

Happy Super Tuesday!