For many years young people have been told that they should go to college to improve their opportunities in life. And it is true that adults who are college graduates do have higher incomes and lower unemployment rates on average than those who did not get a college degree.

But today’s college students are facing a triple whammy of soaring college costs, cutbacks in public schools that make it more difficult to attend and graduate from college and bleak job prospects once they graduate. After accounting for financial aid, as well as government aid in the form of tax credits, the cost of college tuition has risen 87% faster than the overall rate of inflation over the last ten years. This has led to a huge rise in student loan debt, which now totals about $1 trillion and is more than credit card balances, auto loans or any other consumer debt.

Cutbacks in public colleges and universities are forcing students to take longer (and spend more) to complete their degrees, or turn to even more expensive private schools that at least offer a shorter path to graduation. At Sonoma State University (one of the California State University campuses north of the San Jose-San Francisco Bay area), students this spring were allowed to sign for only nine units in the first round of registration, and then there was a second round where few classes were available for the rest of the units. At that rate it would take a student almost seven years to graduate.

Both these trends of higher fees and class cuts can be seen at the College of San Mateo, a community college about half way between San José and San Francisco. Enrollment at CSM fell 10% over the last year as fees went up 40%, a new, stricter payment policy was implemented and class sections cut. The administration there is planning another 5% cut in class sections, and fees are going up another 30% for this coming fall semester. And to add insult to injury, administrators at CSM and the other campuses in its district are phasing in a 20% raise for themselves, even as they say there is no money for more classes.

Last, but not least, there is a just plain terrible job market for new graduates. Of the nearly 3 million young people with college degrees, about a quarter, or 750,000, had no jobs at all. Another 750,000 were underemployed, or working in occupations that didn’t need a college degree, such as food service workers, receptionists, and retail clerks. A sign of these hard times is that a recent poll of college seniors showed that 85% planned to move back home after graduation. On college campuses across the country, students, with support of progressive faculty and staff and their unions, have been fighting both campus administrators as well as state politicians to limit tuition increases and stop the cutbacks in higher education. But college students and college graduates will need to struggle with the capitalists and their economy to provide more jobs that use their skills.

One reason for the bleak job market is the financial crisis and deep recession brought about by Wall Street’s financing a boom and bust in housing. Studies show that almost all the job losses were in middle-income, semi-skilled jobs that could provide entry-level work for college grads. But the elimination of middle-income jobs did not just start during the last economic downturn.

There is a long term tendency, first described by Karl Marx 150 years ago, for capitalism to deskill jobs with the use of new technology. The government’s Department of Labor estimates that only 10% (3 of 30) of the fastest growing occupations in 2020 will require a college degree, while the other 90% will not.

While right-wing Republicans and those enthralled by or on the payroll of Wall Street call big corporations and the rich “job-creators.” In fact, large U.S. corporations have cut millions of jobs in the United States through the use of technology and off-shoring jobs to other countries. Big business (and capitalism) itself is not about job creation, it is about profit maximization, which often mean cutting jobs and making the remaining workers work even harder. Look at the reaction of Wall Street when a big company announces another round of lay-offs – the company’s stock price goes up, showing that wealthy investors think that the business will be more profitable.

As we build a fightback against tuition increases and even more cuts to education, we also need to demand that the government start a jobs program that puts the millions of unemployed back to work and offers unemployed and underemployed college grads a chance to use their education. Those who see the need for radical change should study the political economy of Marx and other socialists to better understand our capitalist system and the need for a socialist economy that is based on people’s needs, not profit.

#SanJoséCA #BudgetCuts #Capitalism #TuitionHike #DefendEducation #MasaoSuzuki #Marxism

Corey Uhl, a member of SDS and a history major says, “The rising cost of tuition and diminishing financial aid is driving some students into debt and others out of school. With such an alarming rate of unemployment, graduating students cannot find good jobs either. We in SDS are organizing students to fight back against state government cuts to education.” He goes on to say, “We in SDS are looking at the big picture. University administrators are trying to put the burden on students, the same way the U.S. government bailed out the Wall Street bankers with working people paying for it through taxes and cuts to social programs. Scholarships like Bright Futures, which once covered 100% of tuition for academically sound students are now covering only about 53% and will soon be disappearing altogether! Some of us are finding we need to decide whether to pay certain personal bills or pay our next academic semester. In addition, raising tuition further buries in debt students who take out student loans or are simply attempting to sustain themselves while studying.”

Administrators at USF insist upon raising tuition while they continue with frivolous spending. Michael Marchand another USF senior notes, “One unnecessary expenditure is the $35 million used to renovate the arena. Renovations include the addition of sky-boxes for the rich. SDS is demanding to know why these investments are not being used on the education of students during hard economic times.”

With the kick off of the new SDS education rights campaign, students are confronting the USF administration. Dani Leppos, a USF junior is calling on all students and their organizations who oppose the attacks on education to, “Join the Oct. 4 rally for education rights organized by SDS. The student rally is taking place outside Cooper Hall. Participants will be marching to the administration building and demanding a meeting with USF president, Judy Genshaft. Tampa Bay SDS welcomes all students who are interested in joining our facebook group or contact us at [TampaBaySDS@gmail.com](mailto:TampaBaySDS@gmail.com).

#TampaFL #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #TuitionHike

Berkeley, CA – While the University of California's Board of Regents were at UCLA voting to increase the cost of education by a whopping 32%, students, labor and faculty from across the state were fighting back.

At UC Berkeley, staff unions called a strike to protest the regents' plan of layoffs and cutbacks as well as the proposed fee hikes. A noon rally and march of thousands featured a militant message of unity and resistance to the regents' attack on lower income and oppressed nationality students. The strike and other actions are to continue throughout the day on Nov. 19 and 20.

#BerkeleyCA #UCBerkeley #UCRegents #TuitionHike