One of the most important lessons students learn in college is how to get into debt and stay there.

It's crucial to the success of the Republic. An indebted population is easier to control; needing to pay off crushing debt - a debt that if defaulted on has been stripped of many normal consumer protections and rights - graduates more willingly shuttle into cubicles, becoming the square pegs demanded by the square holes. After a few futile years of floundering idealism, their souls have been successfully jackbooted into powder and they're ready to keep the thumb on the next generation of would-be drones so as to protect their empire of matchsticks. But how did we get here? This chunky infographic examines the origins and (d)evolution of the student loan leviathan.

http://consumerist.com/2010/09/student-loans-gateway-drug-to-debt-slavery.html

The total value of student loans owed to the federal government will surpass $15 billion this September, according to a regulatory change filed by Diane Finley, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development (HRSDC).

"Student debt has reached epidemic proportions," said David Molenhuis, National Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. "Instead of investing funds to make education more affordable and reduce the record levels of student debt, the government is attempting to quietly sweep it under the rug."
On August 20, the Governor General approved a request by the Minister of HRSDC to change the method of calculating the amount of outstanding student loans. To justify the issue the Minister wrote, "As currently calculated, the legislated ceiling of $15 billion in outstanding student loans, as specified in section 13 of the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, is expected to be reached in September 2010".

"Record high tuition fees have left today's students graduating deeper into debt than any previous generation," added Molenhuis. "Addressing Canada's student debt crisis requires a national strategy to reduce tuition fees, not an administrative change to hide the level of student debt."

"For-profit" colleges have come under fire for saddling students with big debts in exchange for dim job prospects. But what about "real" colleges? They're pushing huge debts on students, too. We crunched the numbers to find the worst (NYU).

In a recent press release, the Washington Post Company—which owns Kaplan, a leading for-profit education company—referred to a recent report by the Education Department which listed debt repayment figures for every college in the nation. We sorted the list by total student debt load.

The top three offenders were all for-profit schools: The University of Phoenix (nearly $5 billion in total student debt), Nova Southeastern University ($1.1 billion), and American Intercontinental University ($810 million). But the #4 school was our old friend: New York University, with $659 million in total student debt. In fact, NYU's student debt alone is bigger than the gross domestic product of 12 countries.

http://bookforum.com/blog/6039

From Polygraph, Nina Power on Jacques Ranciere and the politics of contemporary education; and a review of Marc Bousquet's How the University Works (and a roundtable). Why rank doctoral departments? The E-Book Sector: In for-profit higher education, traditional textbooks are disappearing. A review of Seeing the Light: Religious Colleges in Twenty-First-Century America by Samuel Schuman. More and more on Ben Wildavsky's The Great Brain Race. The World’s Honors College: NYU Abu Dhabi admits a standout first class, as unprecedented experiment in student and faculty mobility gets underway (and more). From Standpoint, what are universities for? Humanities scholars should celebrate and preserve the lack of a clear hierarchy for journals in their disciplines. A look at the temporal rhythm of academic life in a globalizing era. A review of Campus Hate Speech on Trial by Timothy C. Shiell. We must stop the avalanche of low-quality research: A national effort is needed to eliminate the vast volume of worthless findings generated by academe. The rise of the global university: For the first time, a single world society is within reach — and higher education is a central driver. Revolutionary U: Edu-factory is a new group trying to revolutionize higher education. Curing Socratophobia: Thaddeus J. Kozinski on teaching the Great Books. From The Chronicle, Gary Y. Okihiro on the future of ethnic studies: The discipline is under assault from within as well as from without; and who gets to define ethnic studies? Here's one way to sober the debate: Ask if white studies violates Arizona's new law. What happened to studying? You won’t hear this from the admissions office, but college students are cracking the books less and less. Tenure, RIP: What the vanishing status means for the future of education.