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Hickety, dickety, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickerty, dock.
THIS INTRIGUING LITTLE RHYME illustrated here by William Wallace Denslow in a 1901 Mother Goose Collection actually dates back to a 1744 song book published in London. That happy little song book is a far cry from the blues we should all be singing today. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the U.S. Department of Education as well as other private sources reported that the amount of student loans taken out last year crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time and total loans outstanding will exceed $1 trillion for the first time this year. Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards. Are there some common sense answers we could address or do we keep scurrying up and down the clock unconsciously?
Are 18 year olds suitable for college entry? Few have targeted educational goals as well as little knowledge of the real costs of higher education. Reading, writing and arithmetic in high schools should be updated to include, “reading, writing, speaking, analytical thinking and fiscal management.” True, there are highly motivated college seekers but they have undertaken due diligence and have secured every possible scholarship, grant or sponsorship on their own volition. This minority demographic never runs in linear fashion up and down the clock but introduces all of us to new concepts of form, space and time. Let’s not forget that higher education was never a good fit for a myriad of independent personalities who invented new products, services and experiences that changed the way we think and act. College should never be a right but an intense ongoing commitment.
Click here to see the Real Time Student Loan Debt Clock
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