These are the schools driving America’s student loan crisis.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

These are the schools driving America’s student loan crisis.

Wonkblog

By Jim Tankersley and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel September 10 at 1:00 PM

In August 2014, network technicians opened a special connection between computers at the federal departments of Education and Treasury. On nights and weekends throughout the month, that connection delivered to Treasury some 46 millions of pieces of information about student borrowers in the United States, including their financial situations when they started and left college, their incomes after school and whether or not they kept up with their loans.

After taking pains to protect the privacy of individual students, Treasury's deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis, Adam Looney, and a Stanford University economics graduate student named Constantine Yannelis began sifting the loan data for patterns. They wanted more information on what many political leaders have dubbed an economic and educational crisis in the United States - a spike in the number of students who have defaulted on their loans in recent years.

“It was just constant amazement," Looney said in an interview. "You see things for the first time. It is very hard to see what’s going on in the loan market from published statistics and what you can find online."

What they saw was less of a national crisis than a very localized one: The surge in defaults was largely concentrated among relatively older, lower-income students who attended for-profit colleges.
....

[no_hypocrisy]

1. 2014 - #12 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

[yeoman6987]

27. It's a private expensive school. No surprise.

Penn state surprises me though.

[hifiguy]

2. What a surprise.

"Private enterprise" is scamming the students, and the taxpayers, by selling worthless shit at inflated prices.

And it is no surprise to see Falwell's diploma mill on the list.

[Act_of_Reparation]

30. Worthless shit a majority of the students never even receive.

I once interviewed with a University of Phoenix branch campus, just for the lulz.

After some fresh-faced, enthusiastic 20-something team-player asked me what kind of animal I'd like to be, I asked them what they were doing to fix their retention rate. Nervous looks were exchanged. I was not offered the job.

[hifiguy]

31. Indeed. The graduation rates are pitiful

and the job placement even moreso. The bills are very effin' real, though.

[Act_of_Reparation]

33. The whole operation was a joke.

The interview consisted of two sessions: a group session and an individual interview.

The group session was a circus of ridiculous tests and games ostensibly designed to suss out the team players from anyone unreasonable enough to want an 8-to-5 job they could leave at the door at the end of the day. The vast majority of those interviewed were University of Phoenix "graduates", and every single one of them reeked of desperation. As the session's tasks become progressively deprecating, the U. Phoenix grads happily tossed their dignity out the window and made idiots of themselves in front of their peers.

They'll fool you into buying their product and then toss you to the wolves. If you make it out of the pit with your sheepskin, maybe... maybe they'll let you join the team, so you can con other people, too. Such a promising future.

[Orrex]

3. Glad to see my fiendish alma mater PSU is still well-represented

I'm on track to have my great, great-grandchildren pay off my loans.

[YabaDabaNoDinoNo]

4. PSU aka Kiddie Rape U!

Kiddie Rape and Football ya must be proud to be a alum of kiddie rape u!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Because everyone who went there is a predator.

Great logic.

[Human101948]

28. There were an awful lot of alumni and supporters who were angry that their football...

was interfered with just because coaches were running a child rape ring. Paterno knew what was going on.

I heard plenty of Penn State fans bitching bitterly about the inconvenience.

[Act_of_Reparation]

32. Yes, there were quite a few of those.

I remember a mob of deeply upset undergrads rampaging through University Park, causing some $200,000 worth of damage.

That said, there are some 45,000 students at the University Park campus alone. A great many of them, I imagine, were not involved in these shenanigans.

[KamaAina]

7. Naw. State Pen.

[YabaDabaNoDinoNo]

9. Well that is where they belong but football so well you know it is kinda sorta ok cuz it was only

Guy and St Joe kinda sorta did something but Football

The Catholic Church has/had a similar problem with authority figures raping kids but the Church does not have football to protect them. He'll even God can't protect the church however football has more power and forgives more sons even big one like kiddie rape

[KamaAina]

17. I just like the name State Pen(n) better than yours

because of the play on words.

[Orrex]

10. I thought of suing them because they robbed my degree of prestige

Also, no matter what you hear to the contrary, everyone knew there was something fishy about Sandusky, even before I left town in 1999. That whole "we never had any clue" defense was bullshit.

[YabaDabaNoDinoNo]

12. You should sue but then you will get death threats cuz well football

It could make an interesting class action suit

[Orrex]

15. I would never go through with it.

Regardless of the inconvenience I might perceive, it's laughably insignificant compared to the years-long campaign of child rape, and any effort to be compensated for my inconvenience would be a crass trivialization of the abuse they endured.

[msongs]

5. since the problem began when federal loans were privatized, one part of the solution is obvious nt

[KamaAina]

8. I'd like to see these figures broken out by debt per student

Places like Arizona State and Ohio State are huge, so naturally their totals are going to be high.

[hifiguy]

13. Yep. The U of MN and Michigan state, too.

When I was a freshman, the U of MN Twin Cities had the largest enrollment of any campus in the nation. I think it's OSU nowdays.

[leveymg]

11. On-line degrees are often a total waste of money.

I've seen ads in my field that state that the required degree must be from an established university. HR staffs and hiring partners often simply reject resumes listing these degree mills.

[hifiguy]

14. I have repeatedly heard the same thing.

They're not worth the paper they're printed on. Same goes for the religulous diploma mills, unless the would-be employer is also a fundy nut.

[Yavin4]

16. Online education will be the future.

The current bias against it will change with technology just like everything else. It severely cuts costs and is far more effective at educating people than sitting in a classroom. I'm currently taking an online statistics course as a refresher for my field, and I'm learning more than when I took it in college. I'm also taking other courses that are not offered by continuing education programs.

Yes, there are a lot of hucksters out there but they will be weeded out over time.

[Initech]

18. John Oliver dismantled for profit education a while back:

An absolute must see if you haven't already:

After seeing this, not going to ITT was one of the best decisions I ever made.

[hifiguy]

22. Oliver is a treasure.

[Initech]

25. No Colbert or Stewart, but John Oliver is awesome on every episode.

[Rex]

19. For profit schools are crap. They should not exist imo.

Their degrees are a joke among real colleges.

[joeybee12]

20. Yup...they need to be put out of business...

Or at least there needs to be some oversight...although that in itself might run most of them out of business.

[Rex]

21. Yeah oversight would put an extreme crimp in their money raising schema.

I would think the Dept of Education would want to have more oversight over these for-profit schools since they seem to be the main cause of student debt. Maybe they are.

[hifiguy]

23. They have bought-and-paid-for friends in Congress.

Soon to be retiring MN rep John Kline (R- what else?) has been running interference for the predator phony schools ever since they started giving nice fat bags of campaign contributions.

See: http://www.citypages.com/news/john-kline-keeps-raking-in-for-profit-college-cash-7485382

[Rex]

26. Ugh. Why am I not surprised?

Jesus that is depressing.

[yeoman6987]

29. I think the question should be why do students chose them?

Sure they do some marketing but really high school guidance counselor are the failure here. State schools should be first choice of everyone and schools should stop trying to get students into ology majors unless they absolutely want a PHD. Many students with sociology degrees who stopped at the bachelors degree are working at Walmart and mcdonalds. Guidance counselor should have to start explaining what it means to have certain majors.

[pstokely]

34. many 1st generation college students who don't know any better see their ads on daytime talk shows

The same demographic the rent to own stores go after. They don't have any relatives who are alums of a real college. How many 2nd or 3rd generation Everest or University of Phoenix alums are there?

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. usc!