Higher Education Critique

Deanna Miller

 

I have decided to do my critique on Josh Mowles’ blog post on higher education.  As a college student and future teacher, I am very interested in what this article had to say.  I feel that Josh summarized the article fairly well.  He took a lot of the important information and simplified it in his blog, which made for easy reading.  I really enjoyed this article and the blog post.  There were some important statistics and numbers that I felt should have been added, but overall, the blog post was very informative.

Josh also did a good job of tying in things we learned in class into his discussion of the article. He mentioned interest rates and what exactly they are and what that means for students who take out loans.  Josh also mentioned the two different fiscal policies the government can use when they are trying to lower GDP, in which he highlighted lowering expenditures.  I also agree with Josh in his critique of the article when he said that “if the government would control the tuition costs and keep the interest rates of the loans they offer at a lower level then the completion rates will fix themselves” (Mowles, 2013).

I really like the emphasis that Josh and the author of the article placed on the importance of education, even though student loan interest rates and interest rates are rising.  I thought it was important that Josh also mentioned how having a college degree can help you. “[T]he increase in lifetime earning associated with a college degree is now 75 percent higher,” though completion rates are at an all-time low (Tyson, 2013)).  This fact alone should encourage students to apply to college and get that degree because it will definitely benefit them in the long run.  That 75 percent higher in lifetime earnings will help take the sting off of student loan interest rates because you should be able to pay it back eventually.  One thing the article didn’t mention, though it doesn’t really tie into the them of her article is that students can also apply for scholarships, which will also help reduce the amount of the loan a student takes out.  There are also alternatives, like community college, even if it is just for two years, it definitely cuts down the overall cost of your education. 

 

Works Cited

Mowles, J. (2013, June 20). Getting More Bang for the Buck in Higher Education. Retrieved June 25, 2013, from Kassens ECON 122: http://kassensecon122.blogspot.com/2013/06/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html

Tyson, L. D. (2013, June 14). Getting More Bang for the Buck in Higher Education. Retrieved June 25, 2013, from The New York Times: Economix: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/getting-more-bang-for-the-buck-in-higher-education/?ref=economy&_r=0