File Under: Let's Talk About Education

I’m not one to get “political” on my blog, because arguing about politics is as futile as arguing about the weather. No matter how much you know, or how well reasoned your argument, nobody's changing their mind.. 

But this issue has been stewing in the back of my brain for a while, and it’s something that matters deeply with me. 

You’re going to want to grab a donut and glass of milk before you start.

Preface.

I fervently believe in the value of a college education. I come from a middle class household where neither of my parents had a college degree. Between their 4 sons however there are 6 degrees, mine included. 

I was the least likely to go to college, having been kicked out of boarding school with no diploma. I’d been working in the buying offices as an expeditor at large regional department store when I applied for the buyer training program. It was an entry-level job with no experience required. 

I got politely rejected, but with no explanation.

It was the 80’s, and I’d been with the store for 3 years. My lack of a high school diploma limited me to a fry cook job a suburban branch. I was later promoted to Assistant Manager, but I wanted more money, better hours and fewer grease fires. I then talked my way onto the selling floor at the flagship store of a competitor where I was Manager of Men’s Designer. I increased sales by 30% in a year and took on the additional responsibilities as Closing Manager.

It was grueling job, and the hours sucked. Most sales jobs don’t require a college degree, but being on 100% commission sales meant you only “ate what you killed” and I was hungry.

I saw a behind the scenes job as both a step up, but also as recognition for my intelligence, skills, abilities, focus and experience.

Martha, a Senior Buyer of over 30 years had been my advocate. Seeing my dejection and frustration over a job I could easily have done, she called me into her office and closed the door.

“Marshall” she said “I know the reason. The only qualification for this job is a college degree and a decent GPA. Any college degree will due, they aren’t really picky. Retail experience is not required. My last assistant had a degree in music and majored in flute. They are never going to promote you without a degree,”

In spite of my prior experience with education, I knew that I was going to be trapped in low-level jobs and crappy hourly wages unless I didn’t go back to school.

School Days

I talked my way through the back door of a large urban public university as a non-matriculating student. They told me if I got a 3.0 or higher I could transfer and all of  my classes would count towards a Bachelor’s. With a 3.5 I transferred to Arts & Sciences, one of the better colleges on campus. 

Truth be told, open enrollment was a duplicate of my senior year in high school, so good grades weren’t that hard.

I hadn’t gotten kicked out of boarding school for my grades; I got the boot for my drinking problem, discipline and behavior issues. Looking back, these were likely the first symptoms of my mental health issues. 

I had no money, and my family was in no position to sign for student loans. Since I was 5 years older than traditional freshmen, as well as self-supporting “non-traditional student," I qualified for some grants, work-jobs, and loans. I also caged some scholarship money through connections to local religious and civic organizations.

This was never going to be enough to cover college costs, so I cobbled together 3 part time jobs that worked around my full time class load. Working my ass off, I made it out in 5 years, having overcome my poor study skills and a learning disability. My parents cried as I walked across that stage and collected my Bachelor’s, cum laude.  

I’d done it all on my own, with no help from anyone. They can take my car, take my house, my self-esteem and dignity, but they can never take away my education. I earned it the hard way.

My Dad later pulled me aside and said “you are the son I’m most proud of, because you had to overcome the most. If you tell your brothers I said that, I will deny everything, and your death will looks like an accident.” I likely got both my wicked sense of humor as well as my sales skills from my old man. 

 Let’s Talk About Student Debt

I get frustrated when college student whine about “crushing student debt.” My first response is live at home, get you basics out of the way, and pay far less per credit hour doing it at your local community college for 2 years than you’re going to pay credit hour for your Bachelor’s degree after you transfer.

Yeah, it’s going to suck waving goodbye to all the cool kids who will be living off Daddy’s dime and the student loans (with compounding interest) they sign for without reading first. 

They’ll be living it up in the dorms enjoying a “traditional college experience” of trees, grass, football games, sleeping around, Greek life and beer. 

Meanwhile you’ll be driving your beater car to your uncool job at Target or Pizza Hut, still living under Mom and Dad’s rules, while you save every dime. The upside however is free food, laundry and internet with no overhead costs like rent or utilities. If you’re really lucky, Mom and Dad will still pay for your cell phone and car insurance.

Once you transfer (and move out) there will still be significant sacrifice since you will have one or more part time job(s) to offset the outgoing cash flow. This includes giving up most of your free time; no more new electronic gadgets, no more Uber Eats or Door Dash, no more Panera, Chipotle or Starbucks, and no more weed.

No more Winter, Spring or Summer breaks when you will either pick up additional hours at your current job(s) or get crap jobs like life guarding, mowing lawns, cleaning pools, witnessing, stacking books, working at 7/11 or loading trucks at Amazon. Meanwhile the cool kids will be skiing, partying in Cabo, or lying around playing X Box while Mom cooks dinner and does their laundry.

Been there, done that. My folks made me a deal; I could live at home rent free as long as I carried a full time class load and a B average. I would however be paying for my own clothes, gas, maintenance and car insurance, among other things. I’d get fed if I showed up on time for meals, otherwise I was on my own.

Between 3 jobs, a serious girlfriend, and a full time load, their attitude rapidly changed to “we never see you,” and “the pool is almost 70” and “I’m making your favorite for dinner on Sunday.” 

But I still had to do my own laundry. Nobody wanted to touch my disgusting work uniforms that reeked of garlic and onions 

Unlike the cool kids however, my student loan debt at graduation was 5 figures, not 6. I was free of my student loan debt in 5 years.

After I graduated I got a series of ok entry level jobs in my major, starting off with selling radio ad time, working in IT, health technology, and Assistant Director of Admissions Technology at a college. I ended up at a huge bank where I worked my way up from an Analyst in khakis to Bank Officer in a Hugo Boss suit and my name on the door.

My fall from from graced started when my mental health and addiction took me down. My boss at one point told me to "get help" and gave me an Employee Assistance  brochure. I got a shrink, but still got fired. 

After a string of unrelated shit jobs, I ended up managing the Cash Office at a grocery store. I’m actually surprised they hired me and was glad to have it, given my spotty job history.

Now that I’m clean, I’m back at the bottom of the food chain and looking for a  job.  My degree and sacrifices are is still something I’m proud of. It’s not been enough so far to get me over the hump of being out of banking for 13 years after a foreclosure, eviction, bankruptcy and 5 lawsuits. 

But in the long run, even if I have to start at an entry level job, it’s still a job I wouldn’t have a shot at without a degree.

 The tassel was worth the hassle.

Flash Forward.

Now that Trump’s attempt to punish 60 colleges and universities by threatening to hold back Department of Ed money from flagship universities to end “wokeness” universities like Cornell (1 billion) Harvard, (2.2 billion) Northwestern (790 million)  Princeton (210 million)  University of Pennsylvania (175 million) and Columbia. (400 million) higher education is facing one of the single worst threats to an educated population.

While Columbia caved to saved its funding, both Cornell and Harvard are putting up a fight. They have filed suit, with Harvard’s case being the strongest.

Trump hides behind the fig leaf of anti-Semitism, rooted in the Israel/Gaza war protests. It was Columbia — known colloquially as “the activist Ivy” — that became Republicans’ biggest bogeyman. When students there pitched tents on a campus lawn and refused to leave the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” last April, it launched the school into the eye of a national political firestorm.

Eventually Columbia President Minouche Shafik, working with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, called in the New York Police Department. And in a stunning moment carried live on every media network, hundreds of officers in riot gear streamed onto campus, sawed through the barricades and dragged the screaming protesters out.

Trump’s agenda is to purge schools of diverse thoughts. As far back as 2021 Vice President J.D. Vance stated “the Universities are the enemy” that he wants to “attack” and “destroy” because college graduates are “deranged” and sow “division in the country.

• He says that universities are“controlled by left-wing foundations”.They're not controlled by the American taxpayer,"
• He later quoted Nixon by declaring “college professors are the enemy” and are indoctrinating students with “woke ideology”
• He says “there needs to be a political solution” to the ills of higher education.

Because that's exactly what we need. More government. Aren't we Republicans supposed to be about less government  and interference in our lives?

• He then praised Hungary's autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who “seized control of state universities.”

• He was later quoted saying “If any of us want to do the things that we want to do for our country, and for the people who live in it, we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country,”

• Vance says he wants to make higher ed “safe and patriotic again.”

This, spite of  the fact that he is a Marine Corp veteran who paid for his Bachelor’s from Ohio State and law degree from Yale with his GI Benefits.

The hypocrisy just never ends. This isn’t about patriotism; it’s about shameless MAGA revenge on anybody with a library card and a college diploma that gets in the way of their downward spiral towards authoritarian rule. 

Republicans have long blamed college campuses for being ground-zero for a number of “woke” culture war issues to which they’re now taking an ax, including diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and academic frameworks like critical race theory.

What I’m resisting is a historical reference to the way Nazi Germany pushed their ideology onto German universities, banning liberal thought and purging Jewish faculty. A Nazi Commissar is on record saying “You either do what I tell you or we’ll put you into a concentration camp.”

According to historian Richard Evans, 15% of university teachers had lost their jobs by fall 1933. Most were fired because of their political beliefs, while a third of those fired were dismissed because they were Jewish. Several world-famous German scientists were fired or left their positions at universities and research institutions across the country. Most notable among them was Albert Einstein.

 Ooops.

This reign of terror started with Harvard (enrollment 30,000) when Trump threatening their 2.2 billion federal funding, as well as strip them of their tax-exempt status. It has now filtered down to tiny private schools in Ohio like Oberlin (2,700) Otterbein  (2,120) and Kenyon (enrollment 1,877)

The 2 biggest publics in Ohio, Ohio State and University of Cincinnati have both received warning letters. While Cincinnati is largely conservative, UC students have risen up in outrage, protesting cuts to DEI programs and threats to academic freedom.

Ohio ranks in the top 5 for higher ed colleges and universities per capita than any other state. While Harvard may have its roots as far back as the 17^th century, University of Cincinnati (1813) and Kenyon (1824) are both over 200 years old.

Applicants can choose from a large middle of the road publics grinders like Ohio State (66,000) to a far left small private like Antioch (124) It’s not like anyone is preventing them for enrolling in a school that aligns with their political ideology. But no school should be forced to toe the right wing Christian nationalist line.

The ultimate agenda is purging higher education of diverse thought and installing right wing conservative values at both the student and administrate levels.

Ironically, Trump’s Cabinet is full of people who somehow attended elite schools, without sacrificing their Conservative ideology

• Vice President J.D. Vance (Yale)
• Sec of Defense Pete Hegseth (Princeton, Harvard)
• Sec of Treasury Scott Bessent (Yale)
• Sec Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr (Harvard, U of Virginia)
• Sec of Interior Doug Burgum (Stanford)
• Sec of Energy Chris Wright (MIT)
• Dir of Management and Budget Russel Vought (George Washington Univ)
• U.N. Ambassador Nominee Elise Stefanik (Harvard)
• FBI Director Kash Patel (Pace, University College, London UK)
• Director, National Institute of Health Dr Jay Bhattacharya (Stanford)
• Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary (Harvard)
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz (Harvard, Penn)
• Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins (Vanderbilt)

As a moderate Republican, and practicing Christen, the son of clergy, I somehow managed to hold onto my politics through 5 years at a large, urban, public university. My beliefs came with me fully formed when I got there and continue with me today with a few modifications. 

I still believe in a balanced budget, law & order and a strong defense. But I also now believe in marriage equality, a woman’s right to choose, a social safety net, and think everyone should just leave Trans people alone to live their lives in peace.

Trump and Vance’s anti-university rhetoric is winning votes.  It’s a shrewd political tactic from the GOP to frame elite colleges as the factories of extremism as the diploma divide reaches an all-time high. Fifty-six percent of voters without a college degree supported Trump in the 2024 election, up from 51 percent in 2020.

“At a lot of these schools, they’re not pursuing what is good, true and beautiful. It’s become the oppression Olympics and a weaponized complaint seminar of people sitting in a circle and finding out who’s been offended the most that day,” says Charlie Kirk

This is all a shrewd premise to fan the flames of the MAGA faithful against the 25% (125 million) of Americans that have a 4 or more year degree. They see education as “elite,” in spite of the fact that many schools are a bridge out of the lower classes and a higher standard of living.

 Let’s Talk About Community Colleges.

Enrollment has never been higher at affordable local community colleges offering skills-focused education and training. Many com cols also have bridge agreements with local colleges that guarantee credit transfers to Bachelor’s degrees if that’s the eventual goal. This allows first time or returning students to dip their toes into an education, or return to finish a degree that got interrupted by life.   

Some students take specific classes like accounting to initially get jobs or to get promoted at work, or better manage their own businesses. Many police departments for example require at least an associate’s degree in criminal justice.

For example, many high demand jobs in health care require specific diploma, certificate, or associate degree for jobs as a Pharmacy Tech, Phlebotomist, Radiology Tech, LPN (licensed practical nurse) RN (registered nurse) or specialty nursing for hospice care. 

For career advancement, many nursing professionals will return to college and user their Associates degree as a stepping stone to their BSN (bachelors of Science in nursing) where the money is better and opportunity for advancement is greater. Large numbers of nurses have advanced into well paid management jobs once they attain specific business management, computer or financial accounting degrees.

The Battlefront.

But here’s where the “culture wars” come into play. MAGA feel like they’ve been “looked down on” or been denied jobs they felt they were “entitled to” for years. 

They see a degree in business, education, engineering or teaching as “necessary,” but rail against the value or costs of a 4 years degree. They believe that the “school of hard knocks” and lengthy job experience combined with on the job training as enough, in spite of the fact that college grads on average earn 40% more in their lifetimes than high school grads with no further education

Low skill jobs, from bank tellers, grocery clerks and travel agents have disappeared, replaced by self-service technology. Retail has been hardest hit, brick and mortar stores couldn’t compete against online retailers, and the ones that were barely holding on got obliterated during and after Covid. 100,000+ retail jobs have been lost in the last 5 years, throwing long term employees with industry specific job skill into the deep end.

MAGA pound the table and demand more funding for trade schools like HVAC, construction, or plumbing with a direct path to blue collar jobs. They don’t get it, in spite of the dubious value, massive corruption, promises of jobs, and massive fraud many private, non-accredited for-profit schools have been convicted of.

MAGA sees that as “discrimination against the working man.” They perceive college graduates demeaning their value and social status, and out-voting their far right agenda with a center-left one They are outraged, full of self-righteous indignation when they don’t get the kind of funding higher ed gets, in spite of the fact that most accredited trade school students are eligible for federal student loans.

When discussion of debt forgiveness programs comes up they lose their shit. “It’s not my fault you got a useless French Lit, Women’s Studies, African American Studies, Fine Arts or Underwater Basket Weaving degree, why should taxpayers like me pay for it! This is your problem, not mine!” (note the racist and sexist overtones)

What they fail to realize that a Bachelor’s degree isn’t about the subject, it’s about the skills. The ability to do research, sort fact from opinion, work as part of a team, speak in public, leadership skills and deliver a completed project, on time, with footnotes and without spelling mistakes.

75% of high school graduates enlist in the armed services or go directly into the work force. Many enter the armed service specifically because Uncle Sam with pay for their college and health benefits.

Most low skilled/low paying entry level jobs dried up as the American economy shifted from a manufacturing to service economy. Even skilled jobs like (union)Auto Assembly, Farming, (uniom) Railroads, (union) Mining and and (union) Steel have been replaced by technology. There are now half as many (union) operators on the Chicago El after the CTA eliminated the Conductor role. Even (union) Disney animators are seeing their work farmed out, or replaced with AI.

Many unions have priced themselves out of the market with demands for closed shops, pension benefits, absurd work rules and employer-paid health care. Union membership peaked in 1954 when manufacturing was a significant element at 35% Currently it’s down to10.3% of the workforce, strongest  in the areas of teaching, health care, public employees, transportation, police & fire and automotive.

When manufacturing chased lower costs off shore, the remaining jobs cannot absorb the excess. Americans no longer work for the same company for 25 years and walk away with a pension and gold watch.

Let’s talk about for-profit schools

One of my biggest beefs is with for-profit schools. Once they get your student loan money, they keep the money. They don’t care whether you come to class or graduate. It’s shameless, and something raised as far back is Regan.

The 2 largest for-profit schools, ITT (130 l0cations, 40,000 students) and Corinthian (100 locations, 74,000 students) collapsed and went bankrupt when the when the feds turned off the student loan money. IIT students won a 1.5 billion settlement and had their high interest school-sponsored student loans forgiven after the schools were convicted of massive fraud.

72 thousand students at for-for profit schools got 1 billion in debt relief under President Biden. Under Trump, his Secretary of Ed, Betsy Devoss (whose only qualification was president of the Amway “multilevel marketing” pyramid that her family owns) delayed or halted claims processing for defrauded borrowers.

Another for-profit school, DeVry, while still operating, has gotten slapped over the massive default rate of their students. DeVry has been sued over their widespread deception, unlawful business practices, and false advertising, promising high demand/high paying jobs graduates were nowhere near qualified for. 

Current DeVry outstanding student loan debt is 12 billion in tuition and enrollment fees. There are now 30,000 fraud claims pending in Illinois. DeVry was so bad that film, Fail State, was made about them. (Now available on Amazon)

I am a firm believer in higher ed. It contributes to an informed society, diversity of thought, cultivates skills and is a ladder out of poverty for many underrepresented populations. There is no nice way to say this: MAGA sees no value in any of that.

Instead it sees higher education as a “woke” threat to their hero-worshipping cult. Trump doesn’t care about anybody but his billionaire donors. His distain for science and the law, the way he treats vets and the implosion of our economy are some easy examples.

College graduates teach our kids, write the software that keeps planes and satellites in the sky. They develop our drugs, design our cars, deliver our health care, do our taxes and defend us in court. Yes, some will end up struggling like me, struggling, but most do not.

Keep your regressive, petty politics off one of our most valuable and effective resources; education.

Conclusion

12 weeks in, I’m still waiting on those” day one” solutions he promised, like egg prices and an end to the war in Ukraine. 

Instead Trump's changed the name of a body of water we don’t own, sworn to eliminate the penny, and pissed off our every one of trading partners, including Canada, our closest neighbor and life-long ally.

Strap in readers, this is going to get worse before it gets better.

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk,