1. Remove taxpayers from student loan business
2. Universities make loans
3. Loans are dischargeable in bankruptcy

Say bye-bye to degrees in post-industrial critical feminist poetry, good riddance to *-studies programs, hello to dramatically reduced tuition, hello to year round university and hello to students who graduate with knowledge that will get them a good job.

Value for value. Students should realize that a degree from certain universities no longer translates into a better job and there for no longer offers the appropriate value for attending. I also think government should get out of the student loan business and let the free market handle it. For those in debt now they should sue the Obama Administration for throttling the economy.

The answer is market-based education. The professor gets paid according to the number of students who want the class. Not enough professors for the subjects that matter? That is what pricing is all about. Some profs have zero students? Gee, maybe they have to get another job.

Dump tenure. Dump government loans. Make education the business it ought to be, and it will teach the subjects the market demands and, as a byproduct, the cost will drop dramatically.

I think the whole higher education system is messed up. There was a great article some years past lamenting the fact that the cost of a college education was going up way faster than inflation. The article went on to point out that the main reason was all the government subsidization. Pair that with the expectation most parents and educators have to move people down the pipe and you end up with a glut. It's an artificially high supply without a corresponding demand - especially when you factor in the numbers of useless degrees of which there are whole lists.

Here are my suggestions for improving higher education:
1. Eliminate Pell Grants and Federal government subsidies for universities. Stop feeding the monsters which are Education Boards and their voracious appetites with taxpayer funds. Cease all Federal funding for education - starting with the Department of Education. Also, get rid of all of the Federally mandated programs such as Title IX, etc. in education. Let the colleges and universities run themselves.

2. High Schools should be pushing vocational schools and technical training as viable alternative paths to a college degree. Most construction workers, truck drivers (which we rely on), and many others do not benefit from a formal college degree. Many technical/IT degrees are similarly worthless because of the pace of technology (been there, done that) and would be better off as internships or apprenticeships.

3. Allow banks to manage student loans according to job placement, i.e. let them deny a loan to a student studying something where there is little or no demand (such as ___ studies).

I am a college student, and I have never been promised or guaranteed a job in the field of my choice. In fact, I was made aware of the greater possibility of NOT getting hired in the state I live in, and would probably have to go elsewhere. When I say 'made aware', I mean by both my own research and by instructors. I CHOSE to continue with my education and do everything in my power to apply my knowledge into that field. If my best efforts get me nowhere, that is not my university's fault. My future was never promised...they merely offer that with higher education comes higher possibility of getting the career you want. A lot of the problem is that people feel as though they deserve a job because they have a bachelors or masters degree.... that isn't the way it works.

I have always understood that I would need to work very hard to both get a degree, and enter into my field of study with the career that I want...even harder for the latter.

It's hard work and dedication that land you a job, not your university. The unemployed like to have a scapegoat instead of taking responsibility for their own unemployment.

First off, its not the university's fault or problem. Something broke in people expectations on what a University degree is good for. Back in the 90's people kept repeating the mantra "just get a degree in something" , thing is that's not how the real world actually works.. So, we now have lots of folks who are discovering that a degree in creative writing with a certificate in communist studies isn't worth the paper its printed on. You will notice that you do not hear complaints about lack of jobs from folks who go to the university to study STEM subjects. Unfortunately, its not easy to convince 17 year olds to go into applied math or molecular biology, when as they see it they can spend 4 years at the university half drunk and then graduate into a high paying job. Since they don't see themselves actually paying for it they don't spend a lot of time thinking about what they are doing and only remain focused on getting any degree with the least amount of effort possible.. Of course the universities love it. They make the same money on a creative writing student that they do on a electrical engineering student. But, since creative writing does not require extra space or fancy equipment they can make a creative writing student for less cost to the university. Of course between the feds and the banks its surprisingly easy to get student loans ( mostly because they survive bankruptcy ) .. So, the Universities have spent a lot of effort in turning their campuses into plush playgrounds instead of institutes of higher learning.. I went to UW-Milwaukee back in the late 80's and early 90's when the campus looked like a post industrial waste land. But, the comp sci classes were excellent, We had no trouble doing the Thursday night math ( diff eq ) survival study group. We could always find an unused classroom with a lot of black board and fill them up. The student union was a mess, but the coffee was strong and the food was vaguely edible. Back then school seemed like it was crazy expensive. Tuition for a semester was around 1400 and books for me tended to be around 500 a semester. Back then, I was not very good at dealing with the financial aid folks. So, I got some loans, and payed for the lions share of my school out of my own pocket, by working whatever job I could find. It was the desperation to stay fed that probably made the biggest difference. My first year of real world work was as a data tape operator at an Ameritech data center. This was handy because I met a lot of old school Ma-Bell folks who later in life were valuable references. This set me up for my next couple of jobs. OI moved on from their to selling computers for a little while, then back to the university for what was supposed to be the big push to finish. Of course I needed work again, but now I was a great candidate for a job on campus in the computer services department. It was there that I solidified my relationships with the real movers and shakers in the local Linux/internet world. I finally left still before graduation because the internet suddenly became a thing. A thing that needed people with very highly specialized skills that simply didn't exist outside the university world.. When I left I stopped in to visit my adviser, he asked me why I was leaving when I was only like 3 semesters away from finally finishing. I told him then that I was leaving to get an education.
So, while it might not appear that I got my money worth for the time I was at school.. I would totally disagree.. I managed to do a lot more than just study computer science.. Also, along the way I met a lot of my future co-workers. Also, despite my serious hatred of the math pre-recs at the time.. I have found being able to pull some fairly unskilled numeric analysis out once in a while is a handy thing. In the long run I was less annoyed with the Math requirements than I ever was with the non math requirements..
So, should a graduate that cannot find a job be able to hold the university responsible? No.. You only get out of a university education what you put into it. Interestingly enough cash is probably the least important input into the system. No one who has spent 4 years studying a throw away degree should expect that finding work with that will be easy. Secondly they should really do the math when they are blowing 60k on acquiring a degree that will get them a job that pays 35k.. They should expect to have a hard time managing the loan payments. Meanwhile the folks who went into *hard* majors and had to spend 4 years working their asses off still have to deal with some less than awesome pay when they are getting started, but they will hit mid-career pay rates a lot sooner, and they will be a lot higher..

Personally, I choose the University of Hard Knocks. I attended the University of Wisconsin in 1978 and attended just over 1 year, majoring in Chemical Engineering, until I ran out of money in 1979. No loans, no grants, just what I had saved up from shoveling snow, raking lawns, 3 different paper routes and other odd jobs. From there, moved to Denver for employment opportunities. Worked various jobs, each one better than the last until I got laid off in 1980 and Denver was in a recession due to various factors. I joined the Navy and got an education in electronics, which was a hobby for me. I did that for 21 years and got to travel to a lot of different places around the world, lived in a couple, Belgium, Iceland, the Philippines and various places around the US. Got out in 2001 and went back to work, again getting better opportunities at each new job. Currently working for utility in NM and enjoying living in a small town again. But will retire in 2 or 3 years and am constantly searching for my Gulch to spend the rest of my life in.

There are consequences for every decision made and taken by an individual. No one should be in the business of offering excuses to those that have made bad decisions in their lives, either by forgiving loans or by suing colleges. Even under the craziness in our higher education system today, there still exist opportunities to learn--it's the individual's responsibility to do so.

For too long, parents have raised their children instilling the belief in the child that it is the schools responsibility to teach and make ready for the adult world. They do the same for higher education, telling the child to just pick the right school and get a degree and their life will be great. Instead of asking the young to work and earn for their education, just borrow, take easy courses, get the degree, etc--everything will be fine.

Sorry, that's just not how reality works.

They could never sue unless there was a contract signed by both parties stating that a job was guaranteed, that never happens. People are starting to realize that a lot of expensive degrees are useless. Let the market take care of the rest right? I read an article about a guy who got a masters degree in Entrepreneurship and then was confused as to why nobody would hire him.. really, need I say more?

“What Gets Rewarded Gets Done” is the Greatest Management Principle in the World as per the book by Professor Michael LeBeouf. And he nailed it!

Universities are businesses. Universities are rewarded by having large student populations paying high tuition – NOT on the number of students who actually learn something useful.

Their presidents, administrators, and faculty are paid fat salaries from the money students spend taking classes. In order to charge higher tuition, the schools need to get everyone on board with student loans – that way the student is responsible for paying back the loan rather then the university.

No one at the university is paid based on how well students actually acquire useful knowledge. Grades are given more freely in order to make the student feel good about themselves rather then to reflect that learning occurred, because if you flunk someone he will drop out and thus stop paying the tuition.

if they took a curriculum like science or engineering,
they might find a job which they could deserve and hold. -- j

p.s. the school promised an education, not a job.

Sorry, but suing a university for not guaranteeing employment post grad is ludicrous. Going to college is VOLUNTARY. To graduate with a degree in olde English poetry is not likely to be high on an employers list must haves in a prospective employee. And why I am somehow supposed to be on the hook for some person's student loan is ludicrous. Little indoctrination camps is what universities/colleges have turned into.
Ugh!
And whatever happened to internships? My son is doing one. It will help him in understanding what he may or may not ultimately choose to do later.

Many of the college graduates do seem to be averse to business and many are incapable of independent thought. They can only function given specific rules, in a "McDonald's" type of an assembly line. Then, of course, if you have such an assembly line, why bother with a college graduate? I actually find that the dumbing down occurs much earlier, somewhere around middle school. In my opinion, current non-technical degrees are not worth the time and money spent and are often a detriment to a person’s development. Often, it is just a way not to have to work for another four or five years. Perhaps it would be difficult to sue the schools for false advertising (after all, who are the judges?), since they are succeeding in their unadvertised goal – Marxist indoctrination. Perhaps a good way to deal with this is not to pay for the kid to go to "college," but to let them earn their own way. Thus, they will mature much faster and choose the courses that are worth their money and effort.

It is not only the implicit contract-get your degree and you are more likely to earn more over time, there is the explicit contract of "an ivy league education guarantees..." It is the only industry in the history of the US (through the student loan bailout) where the price has out-paced inflation and the value has become negative. A college education for most graduates who have to pay for it, is the most expensive thing they will purchase in their life. It has become our cartel.

I think the students got what they chose. Denying reality is their problem. Believing something because it's what they wanted to hear. There's a price for that. If they sue it should be because they came to their sense and realized the truth about the garbage they were taught...not because they're unemployed.

1) At Florida Tech, we have a very high placement rate into industry or graduate school. Many universities do not.

2) Forgiving student loan debt is obviously not Galt-like. These students did trade value for value, however, as did I. The value they got was a set of tools to succeed in industry. The success is up to them.
3) I sent out periodic e-mail blasts to students, alumni, and paying members of my local professional societies advertising jobs, co-ops, and internships. Some of you get that e-mail blast.

4) As for the student loan debt, students actually pay FAR less than the real education costs if they go to a state university. Tuition + room and board costs the university $40-50 K per year. That really is a breakeven number.
Students paying less are doing so at property owners' expense.

5) The student loan situation was made far worse by the President. One of his first acts was to abolish student loans from anybody but Sallie Mae, the government provider. This was an act to get his tentacles into private universities.

This problem is not limited to people who majored in stupid subjects, and it can happen whether you go to a highly regarded university or some no-name trade school. Some schools simply don't teach what employers want you to know.

I don't welcome these suits in cases where the school really didn't promise employability. But some have done so, and should be responsible when they don't deliver.

And if I were shopping for a school now, I would demand such a guarantee and not go to schools that don't offer one.

Yes, but not for the implied promise of jobs, but for the progressive, socialist pablum so many spoon feed. :)

My college degree did not translate into making a decent wage. Had to find another way and did with the Alabama Department of Corrections, a full-blown career I never liked. But now I'm living laid back off a state retirement plan and social security.
I was stunned when that college had a student worker phone me to request a donation within two weeks of my graduation. How about letting a guy get on his feet first? Dang!
I don't know how they found my email address. When I see that college on my phone caller ID, I do not pick up.
So how much in donations have I ever given that college since I graduated in 1973? Not one red cent.

There has to be some element of caveat emptor. It's unreasonable for a school to claim going here will certainly make you able to solve someone's problem.

These are the OWS people who whined "we did exactly as we were told." If it's not working, they need to do something no one told them to do. Most progress comes from doing stuff you're not told to do.

Although it is promoted that a degree increases the chances of getting a good job, when you deal in probabilities there is no right or wrong.
Its a bit like the weather forecast saying there is a 60% chance of rain tomorrow. Whether it rains or not, they are always correct.

I believe that going to University is like all things a dice roll on the future, and as such you are responsible for it. Not me (Except my own dice rolls), not others, not the government, just you.

There are no absolute go here and get a job, if it were then maybe you would have a leg to stand on, for contract non-fulfillment. However if you don't land a job, after getting a degree, and it wasn't a part of going to school, then sorry it's your loss.

There have been a large number of comments in this post that address personal responsibility as the ultimate answer to the perceived problem of what I call the university racket. If we can agree the university system in the US is set up to cost thousands more than it should and becomes an expensive gatekeeper to many careers, then is the best argument to just avoid it? Don 't take the loans, don 't pursue certain degrees, don 't give them your business. But they aren 't operating like any private industry. They have become a monopolistic rent seeker. And it has broader implications in the world. Let 's take the sciences. Much of the research is funded through grants to universities. Universities have a monopoly on producing science and technology. They have slave labor in the form of grad students who long after they' ve met reasonable requirements for coursework continue to work for the university until a panel of 3 or 4 people who all have a vested interest in keeping them around to apply for more grants vote to let them have their degree so they can pursue their career and not the university's. And the answer is just don 't get a phd then? Don 't go to college then ? Exploring alternatives to fix this huge systemic problem seems reasonable and personally responsible to me. We have a legal system in place to help balance against problems such as this.

Sad but true.