Feudalism and Debt

post by: Ray Duray  December 13, 2012

Oregon students face massive debt

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The average debt in 2011 for graduates of the Oregon University system is $25,497. Tuition fees have jumped more than 40 percent since 2007, and enrollment has risen considerably as more young Americans are staying in college to delay entering the bleak job market.

As with workers nationwide, thousands of Oregonians saw their jobs wiped out in the recession, and entire industries—including manufacturing, education, health care, and finance—have been entirely transformed in the past five years. Many workers are returning to school in hopes of improving their chances at a better career in the future, as well as to delay the start date of loan repayment.

An article in the Oregonian newspaper recently reported that tuition and fees amounted to 20 percent of the university system’s funding in 2009 and shot up to 38 percent last year. Nationwide, tuition has tripled in the past 20 years..... 

...Such a massive burden of debt on so much of society, paired with fewer and fewer available jobs, makes default on the loans inevitable. Currently, one in six students have defaulted. Collection agencies can seize tax refunds as well as Social Security. The only limit is that the individual’s pay cannot go below $750 per month due to garnishment. There is no city in which this would be a livable amount. There is a clear trend of forced indebtedness of broad layers of the population.

Education, employment and a decent standard of living are basic rights. The financial crisis that has been placed on the backs of students and the working class at the hands of the Wall Street bankers is a crime that can only be fought through the political struggle against the Democrats and Republicans and breaking education from the grip of the financial elite.  MORE

tags: wsws.org, student loans, debt, oregon students | permalink