Exploring and Understanding the Problem of Exploitation in Education

Education is one of the most fundamental needs in life. One should be aware that education is not a basic need but in most nations, it is mandatory that everyone from their childhood gets education as it has been stipulated by their governments. In addition, majority of all forms of employment require a certain level of education in order to be hired. Many students are categorized into the lower and middle class who are not well educated about the system, which can lead to individuals and organizations to take advantage of the need of people to learn and instead as a profit making venture through students’ loans. Education today is glorified as an important asset in numerous parts of the world. One of the countries that people go to learn is the United States of America. People from various parts of the world have flocked to the country to better their lives, due to the numerous success stories that the country has, it has came to be known as the land of opportunities where anyone regardless of his or her background can become successful. This ability their story from “rags to riches” is what many known as the American Dream. There are so many stories that surround the American Dream as mentioned earlier, people from other countries in the world have been flocking the country trying to find jobs as well as attending school when they are not working.

Apart from the immigrants, Americans have not been capable of affording tuition fees have also found that working and studying part time can make a difference and help. These are the students that are targeted by various colleges and universities that pry unknowing individuals. According to a documentary video titled, “PBS Frontline 2010 College Inc.,” that was uploaded to YouTube by Donnie Mckayt, universities and other learning institutions in the United States of America persuade the low earning populations into joining the schools under the premise that the diploma or certificate is the key to success (00:15). In the video, workers from the universities have been interviewed in regarding what they do in order to gain students. Those that took part claim that they were tasked with responsibility of drawing the unsuspecting people into agreeing to join the schools even if they had no money as they would be offered affordable loans.

Unknown to most of the with students, the loan that they will be acquiring would only be paid for a long period of time with a very big interest. In the video, well known and established business moguls such as Jack Welch are mentioned to have invested in schools that use their students (McKayt, 00:23). It is also important to note that most of the working class individuals in the U.S are ones that are working but the profit that comes out of their hard work goes to individuals at the top of the food chain (Anyon et al., 138). In order to climb the social class, one needs to ensure that they have excellent paying jobs. To get these excellent paying jobs, people are convinced that getting further education is the only way out Anyon et al. (139) further asserts. This is the main reason as to why numerous people are working and studying part time in the US.

Going back to the documentary video, one can represent that the reason as to why most people fall into the trap of being convinced into getting loans in order to join school. People also tend not to understand is that working hard in school in order to get a better paying job only means that they will be enriching other individuals. Those that got to graduate as a result of the student loans that they were persuaded into receiving will only end up paying back the debts for the better part of their live (McKayt, 00:32). From the previous statement, one can thus note that by the time they get their certificates and diplomas, they will be working jobs that will only be benefitting their CEOs and owners while at the same time enriching the owners of the loans that they were offered to be able to learn.

As much want to argue that America is a free country, some have taken advantage of this and making money of poor and unaware individuals. Instead of schools and learning institutions offering the freedom they claim to, they enslave the students into financial debt that might haunt them for the rest of their lives. I believe that necessary things that should be taken by awareness campaigns are carried out to educate people on what student loans they are to take and which ones can be avoided. This will be the only way in which millions of people will be saved from entering into agreements that will leave them paying debts and enriching other people rather than themselves for the rest of their lives.