“Protestsagainsttheriseoftuitionfees”,extractfromavideofromCNNStudentsNews,PaulThomas,10December2010.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/studentnews/12/09/transcript.fri/

CARL AZUZ: First up though, we are headed off to Europe. Violent protests in the streets of London over a vote in parliament -- that's Britain’s government -- about college tuition. The UK has a limit on how much universities can charge students. This vote raised that limit nearly 10,000 dollars. It was around 4,700 originally, now the limit is around 14,000 dollars. People who support this plan say the country needs to cut its deficit. But the protesters argue that the increase will price some people out of a college education. Dan Rivers was in London yesterday when the protests turned violent. He has more on this situation.

DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, LONDON: It's going to result in a trebling of student tuition fees, something that in the U.S., perhaps, people are more used to. But here, there is just no culture of leaving university with $50,000, $60,000, $70,000 worth of debt. And clearly, this is part of major austerity measures to try and rein in this huge deficit we have here. But this is the result of it: bitter anger and violence on the streets, with the police struggling at times, really, to contain the crowd. This will impact students. Not those who are currently at university, but those who will go to university. I was talking to one student yesterday who said, look, this isn't going to affect me, but for my 13-year-old and 11-year-old brothers, it will have a massive impact. And she was from a lower-income family and was saying her brothers probably won't go to university because they're so worried about mounting up these massive debts. Now, the government says if you go to university, you're going to get a better job and you'll only have to pay this money back when you're earning over about $35,000. And therefore, this is a fair way of doing this, and there are safeguards to help lower-income students get into the system.

“For or against the rise of tuition fees?”, adapted fromanarticle from TheGuardian,EmilieAdams&JamesBartle,29October2010.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/oct/29/teenagers-debate-tuition-fees-rise

InOctober2010,more than300 teenagers,allmembersof theYouthParliament,debated the issueoftuitionfeesintheHouseofCommons,London.

“Copingwith the price”, several testimonials from former American students on thewebsiteStudentdebtcrisis,2014/2015.

http://studentdebtcrisis.org/read-student-debt-stories Alargepartoftheproblem(Ifeel)isthat18-20yearoldsareaskedtomakeaHUGEfinancialcommitmentwhentheyhavenoconceptofwhattheyaredoing.Istartedinaverygood4yrundergradschoolwhenmymomwas on her own, and I received a lot of aidmy first year (grants, scholarships). At the end ofmyfreshmanyearmymotherremarriedandI lostitall(exceptforafewmerit-basedscholarshipsthatcamenowherenearoffsettingtuition).Mystepfatherownshisownbusiness,buthecouldn'taffordtopaymytuitionasaone-manbusiness.SoIwastoldIwouldhavetoleaveaschoolIlovedaftermyfirstyearortakeoutloans.IstartedworkingwhenIwas13yo,butIhadnoconceptofthekindsofnumbersIwasdealingwith. Isignedeverything.Thenrightbefore Igraduatedtheysatdownwithme(noparentspresent)andhad me sign even more papers that I didn't understand. There was a 6 month wait period beforerepaymentstarted,andduringthattimetheysoldallmyloanstoabank.Abigbankwithlotsofmoneyandresources.TherewasnowayIcouldpayattheratethattheywanted.Iwasscrapingby,splittingrentwitha roommate, living frugally and they wanted more than the FULL rent on my apartment every monthbecausethenewownersofmyloanshadjackedtheinterestratesupsohigh.Iworkedallthroughcollegebutthatpaidmeals,rent,incidentals,textbooks.Ihadn'tputanythingawaybecauseIcouldonlywork20hoursaweekwithaheavyclassload.Ineveraskedforanybodytotakeallmyloansaway,Ididsignupforthem and it is/was my responsibility to pay for them. BUT I think there are problems inherent in thesystem.1)Studentswhoare,forall intentsandpurposes,essentiallystillchildrenshouldnotbeaskedtosigntheirlivesawaywithoutadequateconsultationandexplanation--andwithoutanadultadvisorpresent!2)Aneducatedpopulaceisanadvantageforthecountry;educationisimportantandessential.Weshouldbeable to refinanceour student loandebt (aswithanyotherdebt)orat leasthave reasonable interestrates! (…) After 20 years Iwas finally able to fully pay offmy debt (the final $3k) and only becausemyfather-in-lawdiedandleftussomemoney.Nobodyshouldhavetohopeforthedeathofalovedonetogetout of debt!! It's outrageous. What a sad country/situation when my husband and I have to have aconversationbeforeevergettingpregnantaboutwhetherwecanaffordtosendachildtocollegesomedaybecauseifwewereindebtfor20years,whatdoesthatmeanforher?Justbyhavingmydaughter,haveIcommittedhertopayingstudentdebtuntilsheretires?(…)

StephanieStiles,June24,2015–AnaheimCA

Myparentsnevergottheopportunitytogotocollege,sotheyputalotofpressureonmetogo.FromthetimeIstartedKindergartenmyparentsweretellingmeIhadtogotocollege,therewasnootherway.IfIwantedadecentlife,Ihadtogotocollege.Inschoolallmyteachers,careercounselors,family,etcalltoldme, I had to go to college if Iwanted a decent job and a decent life. Iwas told it didn’tmatterwhat Istudiedorwhat Iwanted tobe, I justneeded thatmagicpaperand I’dbeset. LikeaFool, I trustedandbelievedthem.WhenIturned18,therewasnooption,Iwassenttocollege.Becausemyfatherhadpassedawayandmymotherwasbroke Iwasonmyown,100%, topay forcollege.But Iwasmarched into theregistrationoffice,andtoldtosignloanpapersandregisterforclasses.Becausetherewasnootherway.Istarted at a community college to get the basics out of the way. Then I went to a 4 year college. Butbecause Imovedtoanewstate, that4yearcollegedidnotacceptanyofmypreviouscourses,so Iwasbasicallystartingoveratsquare1.Thentheykeptfindingreasonstodenymyinstatestatus.(I’velivedinthisstatefor15yearsnow,butbecausemyunclewasalsolistedonmycar’stitle,Iwasn’tacceptedas“instate”atthetime)Igraduatedin2007.Igotanok,freshoutofcollegejobandIdidwell.Igotpromotedrightaway,Igotraises,andIwasputinchargeofmyowndepartment.Thentwoyearslater,thankstotheeconomy,myselfand10otherpeoplewerelaidoff.Iwasunemployedforsixmonths.Ihavebeenworkingatadminjobsjustmakingitpaychecktopaycheckandtryingtopayofftheseloanseversince.Needlesstosay,shortofwinningthelotto,Iwillneverpaythisdebtoff.It’sruinedmycredit,Ihavenosavingsbecauseofit.IgetharassedregularlyandIknowIwillneverbeabletoaffordacar,home,orchildren.Iworrythatanydecentmanwouldtakealookatmydebtandruntheotherway,whichmeansIfeelunworthyofbeingloved.It'scrushedmyself-esteem.MyfamilyknowsI’mindebt,buttheyhavenoideahowmuchthishascostme. I’m always afraid of people finding out. The other day I saw an elderlywoman, homeless andsleepingonacornerandIthought,“Isthatgoingtobemeoneday?”Gettinganeducationwastheworstdecisionofmylife;whatdoesthatsayaboutthestudentdebtcrisis?

CaskeyJune3,2015–AZ

I attended what Newsweek touted as, "The least affordable university in the nation". Lucky Me! Thecombination of coming from a not so financially stable family and my parents wanting me to go to a"prestigious"privateschoolwasabitofabadcombination.Asa16yearold,IhadnoideawhatIwasdoingsigningupforprivateloans.Althoughmygradesinhighschoolweregreat,theuniversitydidn'treallyponyupmuchinthefinancialaiddepartment.Aftermy$200,000undergraduateeducationhadfinished,Iwasleft with $70K in debt. (I worked full time during these 4 years to pay for school as all of my wealthycounterpartspartiedandblewtheirparentsmoneyonGuccibags.)Regardless,IfiguredIwasdealtabadhandandIjusthadnochoicebuttoworkharderthanmyfriends.Ithoughthardworkwouldpayoffintheend,butitturnsoutthelightattheendofthetunnelwasstillfaraway.SinceIgraduatedin2009,Ihavepaidoff$60Kworthofmyloans,bylivingwellbelowmymeans,workingtwojobsandbeingsmartaboutwhatIcanafford(nopets,notrips,nothingthatwouldputmeintomoredebtetc(likeabigweddingoranewcar.)Isupposeit'sabitofamilitantoutlook,butIneededtolookatmylifeandsay"Iwillnotincuranythingthatwillmakemyfinancialsituationandlifemoredifficult".Frankly,it'sdepressingbecauseyouworkyourbuttoffexpectingareturn,orevenjustabreak.Ihave10Ktogoandafter6years,IamproudthatIhavepaidmostofitoff,butIamdepressedthatinsteadofbeingabletoworktowardsmydream,Ihavehadtotakeotherjobstopayoffmyloans.Ifeelabitrobbed.Especiallyforyoungadultsthatdonotcomefromanaffluentfamily;iftheyarenotaffordedafreeride,theypayapenaltyforsimplyexistinginacertainsocioeconomicgroup.

Anonymous,19August19,2015–WashingtonDC At 17 years old we are told by everyone around us to attend college. In-fact, we are told by ourgovernment,ourteachers,commercials,futureemployersandevenourfamilythatifyouwantasuccessfullifethenattendcollege.At17ourhighschoolcouncilorsdiscussouroptionsandadviseonwhatschoolstoapplyfor.Notonce,wasfinanceeverbroughtup.Why?Because loansare inevitable. I tookout loanstoattendcollege,myparentsmadejustenoughthatIdidn'tqualifyforgovernmentfundingbutnotenoughtohelpmewithcollege - this isahuge issue.Aftergraduating,oureconomydeclinedtremendouslyandwithout continuous or substantial work by $80,000 in loans sky rocketed to over $120,000 due to thevariableinterestsrates.Ihaveafulltimejob,Iamveryemployableandahardworkerwhohasneverbeenfired.ButIamlookingatpaymentsofofover$1000eachmonthinjustinterestsratesalone.WhathaveIdone?This iswhat, I can't ever thinkofbuyingahouse, car loanorever thinkof retirement. Theworstpart?Myparentsaretiedtoitandsoistheirretirement. IwishIneverattendedcollege, Iwouldbeinawaybetter situation if Ihadn't.But I goback tohowcana17yearoldkidwhonever received financialadviceand isgettingphonecallafterphonecall fromCollege recruitersunderstand the repercussionsofdecidingwhatschooltoattend,orifatall.Sadly,mostpeoplemyagethatIcomeacrosshavestudentloansandwillneverbeabletopaythemoffintheircurrentstatus.Anyhelpwouldbegreatlyappreciated.

JoshDNovember7,2014–SanDiego

IgraduatedfromAppalachianStateUniversity in2007.Onereason IchooseASUwasbecausetheywerethecheapest instatetuitionatthetime. IalwaysknewIwasgoingtohavetopaymyownwayandthatneverbotheredme.WhatbotheredmeisthatIcouldgetnofederalgrantstohelppayfortuitionbecauseIwasREQUIREDtoentermyparentsearningsintotheFAFSAapplication,andaccordingtothegovernmentmy dad made too much money for them to help. Except my dad wasn't going to be helping pay foranything.Noonewasgoingtobehelpingmepayforanything.SoIhadtotakeoutloanafterloanjusttogetmyeducation.IhadtoworkmultiplejobstohelpcovermylivingexpensessoIdidn'taddtomydebt.AtonepointIwasworking5jobsandgoingtoschoolfulltime.Butallworthitright?Togetaneducation?WellthatsallfineanddandybutIgraduatedrightatthepeakoftheeconomiccrisis.Sotherewerenojobsforcollegegrads.Alltheentryleveljobsrequired5-10yearsexperiencebecausetheycouldsincesomanypeoplewereoutofwork.SoIwasreducedtowaitingtables.Needlesstosaymyloansweren'talwaysthetoppriority ingettingpaid. Sohere I am,nearly10years later, 30yearsold,witha crippling$43,000 instudentloandebt,horriblecreditbecauseoflettingtheloansgounpaidMULTIPLEtimes,unabletomoveontothenextstageofmylifeuntiltheseloansarepaidoff.MaybewhenI'm60I'llfinallybeabletobuyandhouseandhavekids...

JessicaM.February18,2016–Raleigh,NC

“US Universities tuition fees”, video report from English language news anddocumentarynetworkPressTVNews,CamillePadilla,April2014.

https://www.dailymotion.com/x2ydxm1

They're going to school full-time and working multiple jobs to do so. In America more and more college students are having to work several jobs to pay for tuition and for the basic necessities. “I do know people who do two jobs and go to school.” Tuition and fees at America's public colleges rose more than 8% this year as a weakened economy and severe cuts in state funding took their toll, forcing many college students to work in the weak economy in order to pay for their degree. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, nearly half (45 percent) of “traditional” undergraduate students between the ages of 16 and 24 attending college full time-worked while enrolled. An increasing amount of colleges and universities are charging more than what Americans earn every year. Many colleges are charging more than $50,000 while the national average wage is $42,000. “It’s taxing on your patience and then like when I come home from work I don’t really want to do school work but I’m here as a student so it’s kinda have to come first.” “I know a lot of people who need to work just like to get money to survive the semester and it’s difficult for them.” Now many students are calling on the White House, Congress, and university administrators to do something about the rising cost of tuition and the growing burden it places on students. “I’d appreciate if someone did something about it like government or something.” In the meantime, many students are also taking out student loans to pay for tuition, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, student loan debt stands at $870 billion nationally, leaving the average student to graduate with a loan debt in America at about $25,000.

“It’saboutacademics,Coach”,anextract fromthenovelIamCharlotteSimmons,TomWolfe,2004.

https://books.google.fr/books?id=OKQanQRCuIEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=i+am+charlotte+simmons&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=-lzeVL7tAYrmauq-gcAL&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=i%20am%20charlotte%20simmons&f=false

JojoJohanssenisaseniorstudentatDupontUniversity.Hewasadmittedonaccountofhisathleticskills.

Part1Herehewas,attheheartofagreatuniversity,oneofthefivebest-knownpeopleonthecampus...Nobody,notthepresidentoftheuniversityoranybodyelse,wasnearlysorecognizableorawesomeasthestartingfive of the national champions.Go go, Jojo.Of course, Dupontwas just a stop on theway to the finaltriumph, whichwas playing in the League. In themeantime, being at Dupont was cool. EverybodywasimpressedthatyouwereplayingballforBusterRoth.Forthatmatter,everybodywasimpressedthatyouwereevenattendingDupont.ThesweetironywasthathehadwoundupatabetteruniversitythanEric.Iftheunthinkablehappenedandyoudidn'tmakeittotheLeague,itwasprettygoodcredentialsjusttobeabletokeepyourgradesabovewateranddidgraduate.Wellthatwaswhattutorsweretherefor,wasn'tit?Doubtsbegantoform.Whatifsomethingdidhappen?Inhighschool,teacherswouldtellhimthathehadaperfectlygoodmind,butitwasn'tgoingtodohimanygoodifhedidn'tapplyhimselfanddevelopit;andifhedidn't,somedayhe'dregretit.Hetookitasinside-outcompliment.Hedidn'thavetoapplyhimselfanddevelophismindandallthatstuff.Hewasofahigherorderofstudent.Hewasabasketballstar.Thehighschoolwouldmakesurehehadallthegradesheneededtostayeligible.Whichtheydd.Severaltimeshegotreallyinterestedincoursesanddidprettywell,buthewascarefulnottoleton.Onetimehewroteapaper for history that the teacher liked somuch he read part of it to the class. He could still feel howexciting and at the same tme embarrassing that had been. Luckily, word of it never got beyond theclassroom.[...]Afewweekslater,Jojoasksforameetingwithhiscoach.

Part2BusterRothgaveJojoakindlysmile.[...]"Okay,then....what,Jojo?""It'saboutacademics,Coach."Coach'svoiceturnedabitstern."Whataboutacademics,Jojo?Whatclass?I'vetoldyouguysahundredtimes,youdon'tletthingsdevelop.Thefirstsignofsomeissue,youcometooneofus.Youdon'tletthesedamnedthingsjustdriftalong.""It'snothinglikethat,Coach."Jojowasrubbinghishandssohard,Coachglancedatthem."It's–Iguess–whatIwanttosayis–IguessIjustdon'tfeelI'mgettingenoughoutofit,that'sall.""Outofwhat,Jojo?"Coachhadpulledhiseyebrowstogetheroverhisnose.Obviouslyhehadn'taclueastowhatJojowastryingtosay."Outoftheacademics,Coach,outofmyclasses.""Whatclasses?You'renothavinganytroublepassing,areyou?"Youhadatwo-point-twogradeointaveragelasttimeIheardanythingaboutit.Sowhat'stheproblem,Jojo?""Well...."saidJojo,struggling–henowhadthefingersofbothhandsintertwinedandthrustdeepbetweenhisthighs,whichcausedhiswholeuppertorsotohunchover–"like...likeI'mtakingthisupperlevelFrenchcourseformylanguagerequirements?""Yeah...""AndwereadthebooksinEnglishinsteadofFrench,thatkindofthing.""MrLevin,right?"Jojonoddedyes."He'sterrific.He'sarealfriendoftheprogram,Jojo.Heunderstandstheimportanceofathleticsinhighereducation.[...]""ButwedoallourreadinginEnglish,Coach.I'mnotreallylearninganyFrench.""Sowhat?Whattayawannabe,alanguagescholar?"

“AffirmativeAction inHigherEducation”,videoreport fromstudents’newsmagazineGoodDayDePaul,CamillePadilla,April2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgcYjbEfBbA

It’s thecontroversial subjectespecially inhighereducation. Ina recent06-2 ruling, theSupreme Court upheld a Michigan constitutional amendment that bans the use ofAffirmativeActionincollegeadmissionsforthestate’spublicuniversities.I spoke with David Franklin, the vice dean of the Paul university’s law school tounderstandthecourt’sdecisions.“The federalconstitutionwasnotviolatedwhenthepeopleofMichiganamendedtheirstateconstitutiontoforbidtheuseofraceinhighereducation.”Already8otherstates, includingMichiganbelievethat theuseofrace inadmissionsatanylevelpigeonholespeopleintostereotypes.ButschoolsliketheuniversityofMichiganhaveseenasignificantdropinenrolmentofBlackandHispanicstudentsbringingforththatasofnow,forstatesthatdowanttouseit,AffirmativeActionisthemostproductivetoolforamorediversecampus.Sowhenitcomesdowntodiversifyingastudentbodyorinthiscaseaclassroom,DeanFranklinmentions that there are two key components that need to be abided by verystrictly,orashelikestosay,it’slikethreadingaverynarrowneedle.Franklinsaidthatfirsttheonlybasisonwhichapublicuniversitycanuseraceis‘tobringthe educational benefits from having a more diverse student body.’ And second that‘affirmativeactionistheonlywayauniversitycanaccomplishthediversitygoal.’ButtheSupremeCourt’smajoritymadeclearthatsinceMichigan’samendmentdidnotinvolve intentional discrimination, if states don’t want affirmative action then all theyhavetodoistakeittotheballotboxandvoteagainstit.ForGoodDayDePaul,I’mCamillePadilla.

“How university life has changed”, adapted from an article from The IndependentOnline,RichardGarner,28March2011.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/david-lodge-a-novelists-lament-for-the-golden-age-of-universities-2254768.html

For apictureof howuniversity lifehas changedover recentdecades– from the1960s eraof generousgrants spread among an academic elite to the present-day reality of tuition fees bearing down on apotentiallyhugeproportionofyoungpeople–timespentwithDavidLodgemakesitveryclear.

Lodge is the former professor of English at Birmingham University who for many years was able tocombine that jobwithwritingnovels – an indication in itself ofhow things used tobe.He retired fromacademiclifein1987inordertowritefull-time[...]

Now76,Lodgepublishedhisfirstnovel,ThePicturegoers,morethanhalfacenturyagoin1960,thesameyearthathebeganteachingatBirmingham.“Ithinktherewasthatsenseofbeingratherluckytobeatauniversitythen,”hesays.“Therewasatremendousfeelingofbroadeningpeople’shorizonsinthe1960s.At that stage only about five or six per cent of people went to university. It was very competitive forstudents to get into higher education but a sense that, once you had, therewas a certain assurednessabout your future.” That was also true for the staff. Lodge admits that "once you had got a job at auniversity,itwasyoursforlife.Youhadtodosomethingextremelysillytoloseit.”

Contrastthatwithtoday,andthepressuresfacingbothuniversitiesandstudents. Andasaresultofthatprocess, Lodge says, something valuable is being lost. Under the Government’s proposals, funding forteachingalluniversitysubjectsbarmaths,science,technology,engineeringandsomelanguagecourseswillbegraduallyphasedoutoverthenextthreeyears–withtheartsandhumanitieshavingtorelyonincomefromstudentsthroughfeestosupportthem.

Lodge’smeasuredtonesbelieafirmmessage.”Ithinkthat’sveryregrettable.It’sfoolishtotakeapurelybusiness viewofuniversity educationandonly thinkofwhatcandirectlybenefit the commercial sector.That’snotwhatuniversityeducationisfor.Universitycanbethat,butitshouldbemuchmorethanthat.Theartshavewonusinternationalacclaim.Wegetagreatdealofincomefromthearts.Wereallyshouldbesupportingthem.

”It’safallacytheideathatyouallowthemarkettodecidewhatisdonebytheuniversities.Thisassumesthatstudentsknowexactlywhattheyneedtobedoing.Itisavery,veryfallaciousargumentthatyouonlysupply where there is demand. If you do that, manyimportant cultural areas will disappear fromwhatuniversitieshavetooffer.”

HowdohisformercolleaguesatBirminghamfeelaboutthechanges?”Oldermembersofstaffareonthewholedisillusionedandmostofthemhavetakenearlyretirement.Itisnotwhattheysigneduptodo.Thewholeuniversityisabitlikeabusiness,withahugeamountofform-fillingandassessmentandtargets.I’dhavefoundallthatextremelyoppressiveanddestructive.”Butwiththeexpansionofuniversityeducationtothepointwherenearlyhalfthepopulationnowgoontohighereducation,Lodgeacceptsthatitcannotbe provided for free to all. ”If youwant to give higher education to a significant proportion of the agegroup,youcan’thave thequalityof life thatstudentshad in theFiftiesandSixties.You’vegot toacceptthatyoucan’tprovideitforfree.”[...]

“Itwasmyfavouriteclass”,anextract fromthenovelTheSecretHistory,DonnaTartt,1992.

http://m.litread.me/read/133279/126783-129609?page=3 Afterhigh school Iwent toa small college inmyhome town (myparentswereopposed,as ithadbeenmadeveryplainthatIwasexpectedtohelpmyfatherrunhisbusiness,oneofthemanyreasonsIwasinsuchanagonytoescape)and,duringmytwoyearsthere,IstudiedancientGreek.ThiswasduetonoloveforthelanguagebutbecauseIwasmajoringinpre-med(money,yousee,wastheonlywaytoimprovemyfortunes,doctorsmakealotofmoney,quoderatdemonstrandum)andmycounselorhadsuggestedItakea language to fulfill the humanities requirement; and, since theGreek classes happened tomeet in theafternoon,ItookGreeksoIcouldsleeplateonMondays.[...]

IdidwellatGreek,excelledinit,andIevenwonanawardfromtheClassicsdepartmentmylastyear. Itwasmyfavoriteclassbecauseitwastheonlyoneheldinaregularclassroom–nojarsofcowhearts,nosmellofformaldehyde,nocagesfullofscreamingmonkeys. Initially IhadthoughtwithhardworkIcouldovercomeafundamentalsqueamishnessanddistateformysubject,thatperhapswithevenharderworkIcouldsimulatesomethinglikeatalentforit.Butthiswasnotthecase.AsthemonthswentbyIremaineduninterested, if not downright sickened, by my study of biology; my grades were poor; I was held incontempt by teacher and classmate alike. Inwhat seemed even tome a doomed and Pyrrhic gesture, IswitchedtoEnglish literature without tellingmyparents. I felt that Iwascuttingmyownthroatby this,thatIwouldcertainlybeverysorry.