rant · moment 6 of 23

College Is a Scam: Student Loans, Tufts Protests, and Blue Collar Jobs

from Underground Economy · #34

Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.

4 min

Tim and Ray discuss radicalized college kids at Tufts, the student loan bubble ruining the incentive structure of higher ed, and how blue-collar trade jobs now often pay better than degree-requiring creative or media jobs.

In this bit9 moments
  • 10:02Tufts is a state school for rich people, and students there refuse to debate political issues.
  • 10:58Tim argues that college is a failure—a four-year vacation resulting in degrees with little workplace value.
  • 11:31Student loans removed the financial incentive to keep college affordable and accessible.
  • 11:54College used to be something you could work through and pay off; now it costs $40,000 a year.
  • 12:23Germany's education system uses different tracks and vocational training instead of pushing everyone toward university.
  • 12:46Tim criticizes the elitist attitude toward blue-collar jobs like electrician and plumber, which now pay better than many college-degree careers.
  • 13:06Electricians and plumbers earn more than people working at BuzzFeed and other online aggregators.
  • 13:22Semi-creative jobs in comedy and writing are becoming scarcer, driving down wages as more people compete for fewer positions.
  • 13:42Tim suggests young people should skip college and learn a trade like becoming an x-ray technician instead.
Mentioned here

collegeTuftsstudent loansWesleyanOberlinBuzzFeedColumbiaGermanyMassachusettsBoston

All 23 moments in this episode →