Minneapolis-St. Paul

Oh public schools.

One of the biggest to-dos on campus is the student tuition protest.

Last year the grad students marched about student fees, and this year there is more of a general tuition protest. There are angry fliers, people pounding on drums, yelling. General pissyness.
I went to a super-pricey private university, so I’m unsympathetic. My theory is this:

On a full scholarship. I passed up big, but less than full-ride scholarships at Georgetown and NYU because I knew that I needed even more aid and that I would probably go into debt for law/grad school afterward. The point here is that there are many options and no one is entitled to a certain fee or tuition level.

• You’re smart. There are scholarships. Apply for them.
• The government guarantees loans to grad students, and gives free money and subsidized loans to needy undergrads. Use those resources.
• Your education should theoretically result in employment that will pay the loans. There are also loan-forgiveness programs for those that go into the public sector.

You can’t even get a public sector job with your fancy degree? Well, higher education in obscure or unprofitable fields is a luxury, not a right. If you major in something like early modern Peruvian art history (or law) you can’t demand that the state pay for it via reduced tuition.