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Student Debt Scandal Continues by Karl F. Cohen
President Donald Trump and his secretary of education, Betsy DeVos. image: courtesy ABC news
EDUCATION SECRETARY BETSY DEVOS
made it official on June 28th. She repealed Obama regulations that helped crack down on for-profit schools that accepted anyone who could pay, regardless of their qualifications. Many of those students have a poor chance of finding meaningful employment in their field so they end up with mountains of student debt and little hope of repaying it.
DeVos killed the so-called “gainful employment rule,” passed in 2014, that was designed to help protect against students getting worthless degrees. Now the government will request all schools provide information about ones chances of succeeding, but how that information is presented on the governments website isn’t very useful, I have found.
Unveiled in May, College Scorecard, with its database of 2,100 certificate granting programs, should provide the information that people “need to make the best choices for themselves” about student debt and earnings prospects.
But does it?
One problem is that, as a teacher, I’ve met lots of bright, talented students and also some with big egos and not much talent or drive. Hence, I fear for students who get involved with schools who accept them based on their ability to pay, not on their prospects of success.
“Most incoming animators have no idea what kind of education is needed,” I was told by Ed Hooks, author of “Acting for Animators”. “Particularly in India and China, I have noticed students orienting to advanced degrees when they might make more progress in a simple internship position. They think animation works like electrical engineering—you get a PhD, and you get a better animation job.”
Bay Area Assemblyman David Chiu had a bill that would have blocked financial aid for career-training programs at for-profit colleges that turn out graduates who do not make enough money to pay off their loans. Chiu’s bill was gutted after DeVos announced her new rules because the California Assembly decided enforcing it would have been too complicated.
A second bill, AB1343 by Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, was intended to lower the financial aid cap. It was tabled until next year. That means the amount of debt accumulated by people who get state financial aid, graduate and then find they do not make enough money to pay off their loans, will continue to get more loans than it is wise for them to accumulate.
I suspect DeVos will keep school administrators happy by letting them continue to accept questionable students so they can get government loans. If the student doesn’t find employment that provides him or her enough income to pay off their student debt the school is not financially responsible, the taxpayer is!
Former students have already defaulted on billions while for-profit schools have no financial responsibility. If you own such a school, isn’t it nice to know the current government is looking out for your best interests?
I perused the College Scorecard site to find out how useful it is in determining what a student might learn about their future and ability to pay off their loans. The website supposedly gives you an opportunity to compare the cost of an education to the income that you might make.
I looked up information on several kinds of local schools with film/animation programs including, two-year colleges, four-year state universities, and the privately run Academy of Art University and The San Francisco Art Institute (The Art Institute offers film students a chance to explore computer animation). The information posted is not about animation programs but general information that includes every course of study at the school.
What the site tells us about two-year programs is:
At De Anza in Cupertino the tuition is $4,675 a year; 62% of students graduate; graduates earn $41,700 and 34% get federal loans. 41% of their graduates are paying off their debt. I assume 59% are not.
At Canada College in Redwood City, tuition is $2,368 a year; the graduation rate is 26%; students make $31,500 after graduating; 1% get federal loans; and 38% are paying off their loans. The typical debt and monthly payments at Canada, Berkeley City College and DeAnza are not shown.
At Berkeley City College tuition is listed as $8,796 a year; 24% of students graduate; graduates earn $32,600; 2% get federal loans; and 38% are paying them back.
At Laney College in Oakland the tuition is $6,153 a year; 26% graduate; graduates earn $27,700; 2% get federal loans; 25% are paying off their debt; the average debt is $12,000, and payments are $138 a month.
At City College of San Francisco there is no tuition for residents of our city—isn’t that incredible! However, the website says the tuition is $3373 (for people living outside of SF); 33% graduate; the student might make $35,700; 1% get federal tuition loans; and 38% are paying off their debt (averages $7,250) at $77 a month.
For four-year state universities:
At SF State tuition is $13,707 a year; 53% students graduate; graduates earn $49,200; and 3% get federal loans. The typical total debt after graduation $16,712; the average monthly payment on the loan is $178 a month; and 64% are paying off their loan.
San Jose State is $14,627, with a 59% graduation rate; graduates make $65,000; 32% got federal loans; 74% are paying off their loans; the typical debt is $15,000 and the monthly payment is $159.
For private institutions:
At Academy of Art University tuition is $33,012 a year; 38% students graduate; graduates earn $38,600 and 47% get federal loans. Typical total debt after graduation is $35,688; and the average monthly payment on the loan is $378 a month, with 36% paying off their loans.
At SF Art Institute State tuition is $46,570 a year; 41% of students graduate; graduates earn $49,200; and 56% get federal loans. Typical total debt after graduation is $25,524; the average monthly payment on the loan is $271 a month; and 49% are paying off their debt.
Conclusions:
While I did learn a few vague, basic facts, the government’s charts suggest all students will get the same income on their first professional job. I didn’t learn if there is a difference in income between studying computer animation verses painting as a fine art, or medical illustration.
Will an animation graduate from SFSU earn as much as a graduate who studied science, nursing or business? Let’s face it, an average income is too vague a number to be at all meaningful. What if you are going into a field where job openings are scarce? What if you transferred from a two-year program to a four-year program without graduating?
There is no information about how likely it is that a graduate will ever find employment in their field of study. I believe the site is not very useful, except to Trump who has tried to destroy everything Obama created.
I’ve left out private trade schools that try to teach animation at an accelerated pace, since I feel they burn out students and teachers trying to teach too much in short semesters.
After all is said and done, if loans aren’t made to qualifying recipients guess who gets stuck absorbing the financial loss? I’ll give you a hint: it isn’t Betsy DeVos and her free market educators receiving the money in the first place.
Karl F. Cohen—who decided to add his middle initial to distinguish himself from the Russian Karl Cohen, who tried to assassinate the Czar in the mid-19th century—is an animator, educator and director of the local chapter of the International Animation Society and can be reached . Posted on Aug 31, 2019 - 09:45 PM