How to Fix Higher Education in a Few Steps

Here's my Modest Proposal to fix higher education in a few straight-forward steps if I were in charge of things.

First I'd change the tax laws so that if your household income is less than double the poverty line ($30,120 for single households and $40,580 for two-person households) then you would not be subject to Federal taxes. AND if your income level is below this 3-years or more after leaving college then you'd be allowed to declare bankruptcy including any student debt. Right now student debt is exempt from bankruptcy laws and that's not right.

I'd make the change effective immediately and the Federal Government would take the hit for any student debt that has to be written off now. If a person isn't making double the poverty line 3-years after attending college making that person pay off student debt on an education that didn't "work" just exacerbates the problem. Going forward from this year's freshman class onward - the risk of the default would be on the college. And the college ONLY!

The college or university knows that a Gender Studies degree is almost worthless in the marketplace. Why make that budding Starbucks barista pay off hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt when the college snookered them into taking the loans in the first place? The college would then become more judicious about what degrees they offer and what students they admit.

Second I'd sign an order saying that for all Federal jobs four years of military service with an honorable discharge is now equivalent to a liberal arts degree. And for any open jobs or promotions the person with military experience is to be given preference.

Finally I'd change the tax exempt status of college sports. I would tax all revenue from college sports the same as any other business. I would then take that revenue and divide it into two equal buckets. The first bucket would go towards funding ongoing GI Bill expenses. The second bucket would go to help fund local libraries when true education and intellectual curiosity is often born.

These three steps wouldn't fix all the problems with higher education in the US but I think it would help put higher ed back on the right track.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- There is no reason US taxpayers should be subsidizing college football booster programs. Especially if the potential cost is $1.9 billion over 10-years.

- I would actually like to see this become a thing

- Mookie Betts rolled a perfect 300 in the PBA World Series of Bowling

- Actual conversation between Bill Clinton and Tony Blair

- Important thing to remember about Louis CK's "apology"

- Typos often make for the best band names

- Oh snap!

- This is nuts! I get nervous just watching it.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Louis CK Says it's true - it's all true. I guess that makes this picture less funny than he intended

- 4 laws of muscle or you are what you just ate

- RIP John Hillerman

- Interesting - Putin's Achilles heel

- Heh heh

- How the tax bill could hit college sports. I've long supported the idea that all college sports related revenue should be taxable.

- Let's not forget how creepy Joe Biden has always been

Bowl Money Should Be Taxable

The number of bowls has grown in my lifetime from a handful to the current 32. Last night we had the Humanitarian Bowl, we've had a PapaJohn's.com Bowl and a Meineke Bowl among others. The reason we have so many bowl games is because TV networks like ESPN can make money off them and because the hosting cities can also make some ready cash.

It's greed. And for the most part - it's tax free.

Don't get me wrong - I love all the bowl games but I have to ask what all these extra games have to do with education. Colleges and Universities get tax breaks because they supposedly provide a service to the community at large by providing a haven for higher learning. Does the Humanitarian Bowl really forward the purpose of higher education? Other than allowing more people to learn that the turf at Boise State is blue - what other lesson is being taught here?

Can anyone give me a good reason why the money the colleges get from the Bowls shouldn't be taxed? We are talking millions and millions of dollars for the bowl games and even more for basketball and March Madness. Why shouldn't that money be taxed?

Again - don't get me wrong. I'm a huge fan of college sports but I do think that Division 1 sports that receive TV revenue should have that income taxed.