Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Trust Fund Kids vs Community College

Fortunately I managed to go through college by means of scholarships, jobs, and no loans. Also I ate a lot of rutabagas and drank a lot of powdered milk. No car, no phone, one pair of shoes, never thought I needed two, and books were still cheap.

Nowadays college is a fortune and kids cannot get scholarships as a result of academic performance, they must conform to some politically correct formula to fit the scholarship route. So no matter how well you did, welcome to paying full freight. And most likely bearing that load for years.

Now at the other extreme is Community College. I actually went there for a year recently. I was denied entry initially because I was over 65, until I informed the EVP of Equal Opportunity that the law applied to us old folks as well. Amazing what sending them a copy of the law will do. Then of course they demanded all my school records, High School, College, Grad School, Post Grad, Professional School, and then I was admitted. If I had a GED it would have been easier but I guess they just did not want some old educate guy there. Then the instructor asked whether I was qualified and his response was I was one of those over achievers. I guess it was not an actionable response.

Lesson learned from Community College was that 90% of the students failed to complete the course. Yet they all paid the tuition, most via Pell Grants. Namely we taxpayers footed the bill. Why did the drop out? Jobs, poor preparation, no support infrastructure, etc. Furthermore at Community College the instructors are marginal at best. Better than those I had at Manhattan College, there I was asked to teach Freshman Calculus and Sophomore Systems Theory. In the first case the instructor was terrified of the students and in the second the instructor admitted he had no idea what the subject was, he was a structural engineer. But at Community College the Instructors may have a modicum of understanding but their approach is akin to a low tier High School. For example Biology gives 100 question multiple choice questions. Pure memorization, no understanding.

Now to the increase in inheritance tax. If I were to generation skip and leave the money to my grandchildren then the tax increases. The proposal is if they work hard and get great grades but because of who they are cannot get a scholarship but I would like to help them, then the Government will take 60% of my funds and give it to the 90% in Community College who never graduate! Smart, it is not!

I continue to wonder what is in the minds of those who come up with this scheme. Destroy those who perform well and create mediocrity. Well it looks that way to me.