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Morehouse College grads are surprised by a billionaire's promise to pay off their student loans

danarhea said:
Bitterness = Jealousy
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Well, sure Dana, Let me explain it like this...Have you ever had someone you know that goes through life seeming to slip and fall at every turn into success? No matter what this person does, ends up benefiting them? It's human to be a little jealous of that....Same thing here I suspect...Regardless, Tres sets up a premise where our friend here isn't allowed to express his opinion unless he is one of the Morehouse grads that will benefit from this gesture...It's a fallacy, and a debate loser...Now, I believe that Tres is a smart woman for what it's worth, but sometimes her passive aggressive bull **** gets to me...

Also for what it's worth, IMHO, this gentleman is obviously free to do with his money what he wishes, and these lucky students who will benefit from graduating at the right place, at the right time should consider themselves as lucky as lottery winners. In this day and age, it is the strike of a lightning bolt to have something like that happen...I hope they go forward and use their good fortune here to pass it forward.
 
Mason66 said:
What a ****ty thing to do by this entitled billionaire.

Why would he take away the students obligation to pay off the loan themselves?

He is denying these people the satisfaction of paying off the obligation they created for themselves.

This will not do anything for the character of any one of those graduates.
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Cant tell if youre being sarcastic, but if youre serious, I agree. Hopefully theyll do something good with this instead of becoming dependant.
 
I worked my way through college as a busboy. And I had student loans. I paid those debts off over time. I made a commitment when my daughter went to college that I would pay whatever it cost for her undergrad degree. Fortunately for me, she earned over $70 thousand in scholarships (all academic) for a state school and I still wound up paying over $40 thousand for her degree. Between housing costs, books, etc., college costs are out of control.

I believe it is the law of unintended consequences at work.

At the end of WWII, only 3% of American adults had college degrees. Along comes the G.I. Bill education benefits and within 20 years the number had grown to 15%. That college-educated group made America a global leader in virtually every field. People said "Wow! Look what a little financial aid did for all those soldiers! Maybe it will work for others as well."

So they started coming up with all kinds of ways to remove financial barriers to a college education. Philanthropic scholarships, Pell Grants, guaranteed student loans, athletic scholarships, etc. Consequently, there was a huge increase in demand for seats in colleges and universities with relatively no increase in capacity. So, with a massive increase in the money supply and a corresponding increase in student applications COMBINED WITH no incentives to keep costs down, inflation in tuition was inevitable. Schools like Harvard, with its $30 billion endowment get as much in student loan money as any state school that has zero endowment. And state schools like University of Michigan have tuition costs that rival Ivy League schools.

It really came down to supply and demand, simple as that.
 
Stealers Wheel said:
I worked my way through college as a busboy. And I had student loans. I paid those debts off over time. I made a commitment when my daughter went to college that I would pay whatever it cost for her undergrad degree. Fortunately for me, she earned over $70 thousand in scholarships (all academic) for a state school and I still wound up paying over $40 thousand for her degree. Between housing costs, books, etc., college costs are out of control.

I believe it is the law of unintended consequences at work.

At the end of WWII, only 3% of American adults had college degrees. Along comes the G.I. Bill education benefits and within 20 years the number had grown to 15%. That college-educated group made America a global leader in virtually every field. People said "Wow! Look what a little financial aid did for all those soldiers! Maybe it will work for others as well."

So they started coming up with all kinds of ways to remove financial barriers to a college education. Philanthropic scholarships, Pell Grants, guaranteed student loans, athletic scholarships, etc. Consequently, there was a huge increase in demand for seats in colleges and universities with relatively no increase in capacity. So, with a massive increase in the money supply and a corresponding increase in student applications COMBINED WITH no incentives to keep costs down, inflation in tuition was inevitable. Schools like Harvard, with its $30 billion endowment get as much in student loan money as any state school that has zero endowment. And state schools like University of Michigan have tuition costs that rival Ivy League schools.

It really came down to supply and demand, simple as that.
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I also worked my way thorough college and paid for my own way. However, I feel that far too many students reject or ignore two major ways to decrease their costs today. Students could live at home and save all that room and board for one. Secondly, they can take advantage of community colleges for the first two years of credits at greatly reduced prices and rates.

But when the goal is to live on your own and party seven days a week without your parents - that god must be served.
 
tres borrachos said:
Did you graduate from Morehouse? Why would you be bitter about a very wealthy man being philanthropic with his money?
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If graduate A sold their inherited house in order to pay for their college costs while graduate B kept their inherited house and took out a student loan to pay for their college costs then only graduate B got any benefit from the philanthropist's generosity. Would it be wrong for homeless graduate A to feel a bit miffed?
 
haymarket said:
I also worked my way thorough college and paid for my own way. However, I feel that far too many students reject or ignore two major ways to decrease their costs today. Students could live at home and save all that room and board for one. Secondly, they can take advantage of community colleges for the first two years of credits at greatly reduced prices and rates.

But when the goal is to live on your own and party seven days a week without your parents - that god must be served.
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Well, that is true. My daughter however, earned a substantial degree, one that required substantial effort, one that earns extremely well, not an art history-type degree that has no ROI. And she earned a four-year degree in four years, something else that saves money in the long-term.
 
Master Debator said:
Sure does sound like bitterness :lamo
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I can't deny I wouldn't be at least a little bitter if I worked my butt off for four years so I didn't have any debt only to hear it would have been paid in full and I could have slacked off and had more fun like the other kids.

But it was a nice gesture, don't get me wrong.
 
haymarket said:
I also worked my way thorough college and paid for my own way. However, I feel that far too many students reject or ignore two major ways to decrease their costs today. Students could live at home and save all that room and board for one. Secondly, they can take advantage of community colleges for the first two years of credits at greatly reduced prices and rates.

But when the goal is to live on your own and party seven days a week without your parents - that god must be served.
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That (bolded above) is very unfair. College should become a right to be paid for by others carefully selected by the almighty government. Only those who have been deemed to have "too much" should be paying the bloated costs of running an institution of higher learning. Have Bernie explain it to you. ;)
 
americanwoman said:
I can't deny I wouldn't be at least a little bitter if I worked my butt off for four years so I didn't have any debt only to hear it would have been paid in full and I could have slacked off and had more fun like the other kids.

But it was a nice gesture, don't get me wrong.
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It's a presumption that the students who benefitted from this act of generosity were "slacking off".

Me, I'm not a wealthy man. My daughter will be going to college in the fall and I've worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week to provide for her as a single father. She also started working at 17 to help out. Her two cousins on the other hand are daughters of two doctors and had their tuitions paid for by their parents and yet, they are by no means slackers. They didn't spend their years in college partying and slacking off. They are two of the hardest working young women I've ever known and neither me nor my daughter are jealous of them not having the burden of debt that we soon will.
 
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Master Debator said:
It's a presumption that the students who benefitted from this act of generosity were "slacking off".

Me, I'm not a wealthy man. My daughter will be going to college in the fall and I've worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week to provide for her as a single father. She also started working at 17 to help out. Her two cousins on the other hand are daughters of two doctors and had their tuitions paid for by their parents and yet, they are by no means slackers. They didn't spend their years in college partying and slacking off. They are two of the hardest working young women I've ever known and neither me nor my daughter are jealous of them not having the burden of debt that we soon will.
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They may not have been slacking off but they surely didn't have a huge debt weighing on their shoulders like the kids and families who are working to pay it off themselves. I may have been overreaching by saying 'slacking' but it would be much easier getting through college with your parents paying for it. I think kids should have those years in school to enjoy themselves and learn not be overburdened about having to pay for an education.
 
Mason66 said:
What a ****ty thing to do by this entitled billionaire.

Why would he take away the students obligation to pay off the loan themselves?

He is denying these people the satisfaction of paying off the obligation they created for themselves.

This will not do anything for the character of any one of those graduates.
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tres borrachos said:
Did you graduate from Morehouse? Why would you be bitter about a very wealthy man being philanthropic with his money?
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Sounds like class envy. Isn't that what these same people scream at us for any taxes we want on the billionaires?
 
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americanwoman said:
They may not have been slacking off but they surely didn't have a huge debt weighing on their shoulders like the kids and families who are working to pay it off themselves. I may have been overreaching by saying 'slacking' but it would be much easier getting through college with your parents paying for it. I think kids should have those years in school to enjoy themselves and learn not be overburdened about having to pay for an education.
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I only took issue with your presumption of slacking. That's jealously talking looking to put people down to elevate your burden. Those two girls, their father worked for 30 years at IBM and then left, went to college, for the first time, and eventually medical school. That's the example they grew up with. They weren't slackers.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
If graduate A sold their inherited house in order to pay for their college costs while graduate B kept their inherited house and took out a student loan to pay for their college costs then only graduate B got any benefit from the philanthropist's generosity. Would it be wrong for homeless graduate A to feel a bit miffed?
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Is graduate A miffed at every billionaire who pays for someone else's education? Is he miffed at every fellow student at his college whose parents or other relative paid for the cost of the college?

In this country there are thousands upon thousands of graduates who don't have student loans at the end of their schooling. I never heard of anyone getting miffed over that.
 
tres borrachos said:
Is graduate A miffed at every billionaire who pays for someone else's education? Is he miffed at every fellow student at his college whose parents or other relative paid for the cost of the college?

In this country there are thousands upon thousands of graduates who don't have student loans at the end of their schooling. I never heard of anyone getting miffed over that.
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This is not a case of someone paid for somebody's college - it is someone paid for everyone else at their college who had used debt to pay their tuition. Those who did not use debt, but instead paid out of pocket, are apt to wonder why others got free what they had been asked to pay for.
 
Erod said:
This is my system, and I HIGHLY recommend it.

Get an A, and I'll pay for it.

Get a B, and we split it.

Get a C, and it's on you.

She's a 3.9 finance major, and I'm certain this helped. LOL
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:applaud
 
ttwtt78640 said:
This is not a case of someone paid for somebody's college - it is someone paid for everyone else at their college who had used debt to pay their tuition. Those who did not use debt, but instead paid out of pocket, are apt to wonder why others got free what they had been asked to pay for.
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And again, why would someone be miffed at a billionaire, or anyone else for that matter, paying for someone else's tuition? It happens all the time. I never knew anyone who was miffed about it. Because it's jealousy.
 
Stealers Wheel said:
I worked my way through college as a busboy. And I had student loans. I paid those debts off over time. I made a commitment when my daughter went to college that I would pay whatever it cost for her undergrad degree. Fortunately for me, she earned over $70 thousand in scholarships (all academic) for a state school and I still wound up paying over $40 thousand for her degree. Between housing costs, books, etc., college costs are out of control.

I believe it is the law of unintended consequences at work.

At the end of WWII, only 3% of American adults had college degrees. Along comes the G.I. Bill education benefits and within 20 years the number had grown to 15%. That college-educated group made America a global leader in virtually every field. People said "Wow! Look what a little financial aid did for all those soldiers! Maybe it will work for others as well."

So they started coming up with all kinds of ways to remove financial barriers to a college education. Philanthropic scholarships, Pell Grants, guaranteed student loans, athletic scholarships, etc. Consequently, there was a huge increase in demand for seats in colleges and universities with relatively no increase in capacity. So, with a massive increase in the money supply and a corresponding increase in student applications COMBINED WITH no incentives to keep costs down, inflation in tuition was inevitable. Schools like Harvard, with its $30 billion endowment get as much in student loan money as any state school that has zero endowment. And state schools like University of Michigan have tuition costs that rival Ivy League schools.

It really came down to supply and demand, simple as that.
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Did she get your moneys worth? Like get she get a valuable degree or knowledge? Could she have done just as well down a cheaper path? I spent 40k and while the social experience was priceless, it was not cost effective in terms of my career.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
This is not a case of someone paid for somebody's college - it is someone paid for everyone else at their college who had used debt to pay their tuition. Those who did not use debt, but instead paid out of pocket, are apt to wonder why others got free what they had been asked to pay for.
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Well good news is they will feel better and hopefully continue to beleive in paying their own way.
 
poweRob said:
Sounds like class envy. Isn't that what these same people scream at us for any taxes we want on the billionaires?
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No. The difference is this is about teaching someone to fish. Youre bitter about not being rich. We're bitter about rich people eroding independence (the same way lilberals and socialism does).
 
tres borrachos said:
And again, why would someone be miffed at a billionaire, or anyone else for that matter, paying for someone else's tuition? It happens all the time. I never knew anyone who was miffed about it. Because it's jealousy.
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Yep, and it would also be jealousy if I got upset that my landlady asked me to pay monthly rent while all her other tenants got to live rent free.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Yep, and it would also be jealousy if I got upset that my landlord asked me to pay monthly rent while all her other tenants got to live rent free.
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I have a solution.

Let's do this for all student loans and college expenses.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
Your first sentence is about right.

Your second sentence is made up by you. The #1 revenue source for a randomly selected large school, University of Michigan was from patient care ($4.2B of $7.9 Operating Expenses).
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I stand corrected. Possibly my confusion was caused by seeing the amount of coverage being given to what (it appears [based on volume of media coverage]) most Americans consider to be the primary function of universities, which is "Fielding winning basketball and football teams". However, I will accept your correction that shows that UofM gets most of its funding from Medicaid and (over priced) private medical insurance plans.

Now, having plead guilty (and to lower the "snark level"), you might be interested as interested in "Financing Higher Education in the United States: An Overview" as I was.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Yep, and it would also be jealousy if I got upset that my landlady asked me to pay monthly rent while all her other tenants got to live rent free.
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I would in that situation too. But that isn't comparable to what is being discussed.
 
Deuce said:
I have a solution.

Let's do this for all student loans and college expenses.
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OK, let's force colleges to do what ERs do - provide services to everyone regardless of ability to pay.
 
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