Pay with an Arm or Indentured Servitude

Among our graduating high school classes, our freshly graduated college classes and our two to three year career placed veterans, there seem to have been and continue to be only two options in establishing a future and a good life: college or the military. College offers socialization opportunities as well as networking possibilities yet has been ticking the price of admission up rather abrasively each year while the military has leaned up on admissions in their own way. No more convicted felons armed for combat, no more “all purpose” grunt allowed for the hierarchs that wage political war abroad, leaving the well trained, specialized, well adjusted male or female persona that can devour collegian graduates’ potential jobs based upon their double-edged sword of experience and training. While collegian grads have the advantages of networking, the key question remains consistent: are they using their networking possibilities or drinking, sleeping and bedding them as “single event” status? College student Mike Catalano has his own views.

“I drink.” Laughter escapes as he continues his assessment of a weekend. “School’s good… I’ve heard that correctional officers get good pay and I think it’d be alright in a federal prison. It’d never get boring.” Mike explains in reference to his ITT Technology education path that is designed to prepare him for a position in Criminal Justice. ITT Technology is an accredited school and aside from the community colleges available in the local area, among the cheapest routes to obtain a two year degree at just under $15,000 a year for tuition. Given a $30,000 program at the conservatively topped out interest rate for student loans paid over ten years that equals a monthly payment of four-hundred thirty-two dollars paying over two thirds of the principle in interest. This type of expectation to be placed on a student with aspirations of attaining a home and building a family is burdensome enough to topple even the strongest willed men and women. “We now find large numbers of college graduates who can only find employment in jobs that call for no real academic background. Their pay is not high, but they have college debts to pay off. At the same time, there are high-paying trades that have trouble finding new trainees,” stated George Leff, the Vice President for Research at the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy in Raleigh, North Carolina in the November 20th, 2006 edition of US News and World Report. Another view in the same edition from Paul Serbo, a concerned citizen states, “When are you going to take a good, hard look at why the price keeps going up? I suspect the answer is bloated staffs (take a look at any university’s public-affairs staff), zero cost controls, and teachers paid not to teach,” which is a sentiment many parents and would-be-students have taken to avoid the road of college. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that college education is simply that expensive regardless of the reason. A promising alternative is enlisting as a soldier.