Debt Diplomas
Our universities are supposed to prepare young people to be productive members of our society. Given that being a productive member of society now means going into massive amounts of debt to keep our sick consumer economy spinning, this–perhaps–should not be surprising. But that doesn’t make it any less disgusting. From the NY Times:
[Bank of America] has an $8.4 million, seven-year contract with Michigan State giving it access to students’ names and addresses and use of the university’s logo. The more students who take the banks’ credit cards, the more money the university gets. Under certain circumstances, Michigan State even stands to receive more money if students carry a balance on these cards
And Michigan State is far from alone:
[A Bank of America spokesperson] said the bank had agreements with about 700 colleges and alumni associations, making it one of the biggest, if not the biggest, card issuer on campuses.
So not only are colleges and universities yoking huge student loan obligations onto their graduates, they’re helping greedy credit card companies heap thousands more onto their debt load:
A survey of more than 1,500 college students by US PIRG in Washington found that two-thirds had at least one credit card. Seniors with balances had an average debt of $2,623 on their cards.
Congrats, kid! Here’s your diploma. And a thousand dollar a month payment schedule. Oh, and good luck finding a job to pay for it. We screwed you in that department as well.
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