Four Years Of School, A Lifetime Of Debt

[Symantec9]

Four Years Of School, A Lifetime Of Debt

 

Sept. 9, 2007

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(The Nation) This column was written by Barbara Ehrenreich.

 

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Welcome to Fleece U., where our mission is to take feckless teenagers such as yourselves and turn them into full-fledged citizens of our economy, meaning, of course, debtors.

 

Many life-changing things will happen to you in the next four years. You will make lasting friends, including perhaps the love of your life. You will drink more than you ever thought possible and bitterly regret it in the morning. You will lose your virginity, if you happen to have brought it with you.

 

Our stellar faculty ardently hopes that along the way you will be amazed by calculus and charmed by the tipsy conversation between Alcibiades and that wily old radical, Socrates. There is also a general expectation that you will come out of here with some hazy notion of spelling and grammar.

 

But never forget that your real purpose here is to shake off the pointless freedom of youth and assume the burden of debt. To this end, we have just raised our tuition in an attempt to keep up with such top-of-the-line institutions as George Washington University (now weighing in at $39,210 a year, or $50,000 with room and board.) You will find us also charging a plethora of additional fees - a "student activities fee," a "technology fee," and an "incidentals fee." In addition, we will be experimenting this year with a "snow removal fee," a "lecture hall seat-use fee," and the installation of pay toilets in the dorms.

 

It would be short-sighted to resent these fees, since they provide valuable experience in bill-reading, and will come in handy when you confront your own personal monthly utility statements. At present we do not charge any additional tuition for this training in bill-reading, though we are considering adding a special "fee fee" in the future.

 

Another thing that will help ease you into the status of debtor is the price of your textbooks - about $120 to $180 for a new, graffiti-free copy. True, this seems high when you could buy a hardcover of

[Kent]

perfectly mirrors our situation here. but its worse here cos u see the prcs and indians using our tax money to study for free while the common folks would have to borrow from the bank to study.

[Porker]

PRCs and Indians study for free meh?

[Kingcopa]

U dun know meh???? Not onli PRCs, Indians, all nationality. Just ask ur frd currently in University, how many FT are on scholarship here. Singaporeans have to loan to support their study while those FTs are here FOC!!!!

[Porker]

I don't know really

 

Scholarship means free but those who came on their own accord have to pay right

[Kingcopa]

yes. Heard from frd that many are on scholarship by govt or various organisation. They paid nothing.

[Kent]

the best part is it's not a bond tied to any govt organisation. Requirement is they work in spore for 3 years. You can get a job that post u "overseas" back to ur own county haha.

[Kingcopa]

That is y my frd damn DL. he had to borrow a big sum for his study while his classmate/school mates study for Free. He is still repaying the loan now after a few yr out in society.

[Kent]

yes we are screwed left right center, it doesn't hurt if those are for a minority few....but its so freely given sometimes during lecs when i was back in NTU, I think I'm attending a overseas uni in myanmmar or china

[Kingcopa]

. Rem me of the area my in law are studying, i thot i am in China hahahahaha and the area my granny are staying, i thot i living in some dormitory. Edited September 10, 2007 by Kingcopa

[Silver_blade]

...and they not unnecessary to be smart. Btw, what are the requirements to get free education in our Uni? I have a cousin who is in such scheme...she is not good in school cos of her poor command of english. I too shy to ask her/

[Kent]

u mean totally free for sporeans? not that i know of for the common folks, but the Malays get it through Mendaki, fully paid up. I've a Malay classmate whom all his siblings (3 in total) went through uni fully sponsored. 75k saved for the family which can easily get you a Honda Civic 2.0

[Silver_blade]

Free for some m'sian.