Original scientific paper
LIFELONG INDEBTEDNESS AND DESOCIALIZATION OF THE MOST EDUCATED AS A RESULT OF AMERICAN TUITION/REGISTRATION FEE SYSTEM AND STUDENT LOANS
Rajko Odobaša
; Faculty of Law in Osijek
Abstract
The paper deals with an analysis of causes, instruments and goals of neoliberal reform ideas and transformations in the area of American state and private university education system and especially financial, economic, social, political and cultural impact of introducing and growth of student tuition and registration fees as well as expansion of complementary student loan system resulting in high level of students’ indebtedness. The introduction and growth of tuition fees at state universities is one of the most important commercial aspects in university education as a group of different changes conceived and imposed for the purpose of introducing and enhancing the market logic within university institutions. Since they were accused then of a profound educational crisis due to their monopolistic position, commercialization was imposed on state educational institutions and universities as a way and means of ‘’recuperation’’. From the socially broader viewpoint, educational commercialization goes correspondingly with decreasing, privatization and financializing of all other parts of public sector i.e. with an attack on institutions and other achievements of ‘’welfare state’’. Decades-long defaming and deminishing of financial-regulatory state role in university education have caused decrease in registration rate, the growth of student rate in financing university programmes as well as rearranging and activity of public universities towards the model of business organisations. Due to a limited admission number at public educational institutions, the number of students increases at private-commercial colleges and universities with growing registration fees, too. Progressing study expenses and long time income stagnation of the bulk of households have forced American students to take expensive student loans and thus accumulate debts and all to the benefit of the conglomerates of private and quasi-public and commercial interests. Due to a sum of billion dollars of the already accumulated student debts, the lives of many most-educated American people have been jeopardized by heavy and dangerous load of lifelong indebtedness and social exclusion. Furthermore, the accumulated students debts can easily destabilize American banking system once again and cause a new global financial-economic crisis. The conclusion of this paper, exemplified by results of the commercialization of American university education system, is to view all its educational and wide-spread social destructiveness but also to draw a lesson that, while debating on rearranging the Croatian university education, might serve as an argument in favour of keeping and enhancing the system cofinancing of university education and science. In case of resuming the domestic university education transformations towards market-commercial rules and goals, the end of the paper conveys ideas on possible public and private alternative ways of financing educational programmes/institutions and individual study expenses.
Keywords
die Kommerzialisierung der Hochschulausbildung; wachsende Studiengelder und Immatrikulationsgebühren; die Studentendarlehen; die lebenslange Vershuldung und die Desozialisierung von Höchstgebildeten
Hrčak ID:
134367
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2012.
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