Today 40 million Americans are indebted for their passage to the new economy. Too poor to pay their way through college, they now owe lenders more than one trillion US dollars. They do find what jobs they can get to pay off a debt that is secured on their person. In America, even a bankrupt gambler gets a second chance. But it is nearly impossible for an American to get discharged their student loan debts.
今時今日,有四千萬個美國人 孭住一筆讀書債投身社會 佢哋屋企窮,要借錢讀大學 而家夾埋嘅債務有成一兆美金咁多 呢班畢業生乜嘢工都要試 為求還得清自己筆債 喺美國 連一個破咗產嘅爛賭二都翻身有望 但完全唔使指意 一個畢業生可以還清筆債
Once upon a time in America, going to college did not mean graduating with debt. My friend Paul's father graduated from Colorado State University on the GI Bill. For his generation, higher education was free or almost free, because it was thought of as a public good. Not anymore. When Paul also graduated from Colorado State University, he paid for his English degree by working part-time. 30 years ago, higher education tuition was affordable, reasonable, and what debts you accumulated, you paid off by graduation date. Not anymore. Paul's daughter followed in his footsteps, but with one difference: when she graduated five years ago, it was with a whopping debt.
以前响美國 讀大學唔等於要負債纍纍咁畢業 我朋友阿 Paul 佢爸爸喺科羅拉多州立大學畢業 當年有退伍軍人法保障 嗰個年代 大學學費全免,又或者近乎零 因為政府覺得大專學歷對社會有益 但好景不常 輪到阿 Paul 喺同一間大學畢業嗰陣 英文系畢業嘅佢,要做住兼職嚟還債 卅年前 多數人都畀得起大學學費 你爭落嘅錢,畢業之前就可以還晒 但好景不常 輪到阿 Paul 個囡同樣步佢後塵 唯一唔同嘅係 五年前佢畢業嗰陣 孭住成身債
Students like Kate have to take on a loan because the cost of higher education has become unaffordable for many if not most American families. But so what? Getting into debt to buy an expensive education is not all bad if you could pay it off with the increased income that you earned from it. But that's where the rubber meets the road. Even a college grad earned 10 percent more in 2001 than she did in 2013.
阿 Kate 同埋其他大學生都要借錢 因為大學學費經已貴到 好多美國家庭都負擔唔起 咁又點啫? 借筆錢嚟投資一個貴價學位 只要第日還到錢,就唔成問題啦 有大學學歷,起碼有得賺多啲嘛 但問題嘅癥結就响呢度 連一個 2001 年畢業嘅人所賺嘅錢 比起 2013 年畢業嘅 Kate 仲要多出 10%
So ... tuition costs up, public funding down, family incomes diminished, personal incomes weak. Is it any wonder that more than a quarter of those who must cannot make their student loan payments? The worst of times can be the best of times, because certain truths flash up in ways that you can't ignore. I want to speak of three of them today.
所以… 學費飆升 津貼少咗 家庭收入又縮咗水 個人收入微薄 唔怪得有多過四分一嘅畢業生 連要還債都還唔到 不過,最壞嘅時刻亦係最好嘅時刻 因為啲事實就攞喺响你面前,唔理唔得 今日我想講其中三個事實
1.2 trillion dollars of debts for diplomas make it abundantly obvious that higher education is a consumer product you can buy. All of us talk about education just as the economists do now, as an investment that you make to improve the human stock by training them for work. As an investment you make to sort and classify people so that employers can hire them more easily. The U.S. News & World Report ranks colleges just as the consumer report rates washing machines. The language is peppered with barbarisms. Teachers are called "service providers," students are called "consumers." Sociology and Shakespeare and soccer and science, all of these are "content."
1.2 兆美金嘅學債 明顯反映咗 大學教育經已淪為一種消費品 我哋講起教育就好似班資本家咁 將教育當係投資,愛嚟增強人力資本 訓練啲人出嚟做嘢 愛嚟將啲學生按等級分類 等啲僱主請人嗰陣容易啲 《美國新聞與世界報導》 公布大學排名嘅方式 十足啲消費報告評估啲洗衣機咁款 份報告用詞粗暴到極 叫啲老師做「服務提供者」 叫啲學生做「消費者」 社會學呀,莎士比亞呀 足球同埋科學呀 呢啲冚唪唥叫做「服務內容」
Student debt is profitable. Only not on you. Your debt fattens the profit of the student loan industry. The two 800-pound gorillas of which -- Sallie Mae and Navient -- posted last year a combined profit of 1.2 billion dollars. And just like home mortgages, student loans can be bundled and packaged and sliced and diced, and sold on Wall Street. And colleges and universities that invest in these securitized loans profit twice. Once from your tuition, and then again from the interest on debt.
學業借貸好好賺 不過賺嗰個唔會係你 你嘅債務甚至養肥咗 成個學生借貸行業 呢個行頭其中兩條巨龍 Sallie Mae 同埋 Navient 公布上年總盈利一共有 12 億美金 學生貸款正正同樓宇按揭一樣 可以係捆綁式、套餐式同拆件式 响華爾街出售 啲大專院校 投資呢啲證券貸款嘅時候 頭尾賺兩轉 首先賺你筆學費 跟住賺你啲息口
With all that money to be made, are we surprised that some in the higher education business have begun to engage in false advertising, in bait and switch ... in exploiting the very ignorance that they pretend to educate?
睇見盤生意咁好賺 大家仲會奇怪嗰啲高等教育辦學團體 點解會用啲失實嘅宣傳手段 嚟推銷利誘 藉教育嚟剝削緊乜都唔知嘅學生嗎?
Third: diplomas are a brand. Many years ago my teacher wrote, "When students are treated as consumers, they're made prisoners of addiction and envy." Just as consumers can be sold and resold upgraded versions of an iPhone, so also people can be sold more and more education. College is the new high school, we already say that. But why stop there? People can be upsold on certifications and recertifications, master's degrees, doctoral degrees.
第三: 學位經已淪為品牌 當年我有個老師寫話: 「當學生變成一班消費者, 佢哋就會喺度盲追學位,鬥生鬥死。」 正如蘋果不斷向人推銷新款 iPhone 做教育嘅亦可以不斷向人推銷學位 昨日嘅中學,變成今日嘅大學 一早有人咁講過 但點解要停喺呢一步? 大學可以不斷招攬人讀文憑,讀完再讀 再讀碩士學位、博士學位
Higher education is also marketed as a status object. Buy a degree, much like you do a Lexus of a Louis Vuitton bag, to distinguish yourself from others. So you can be the object of envy of others. Diplomas are a brand.
佢哋仲推銷專上教育係地位嘅象徵 買學位 同你買架凌志、買個 LV 一樣 係買嚟抬高身價 靠佢,你可以招人妒忌 學位已經淪為品牌
But these truths are often times hidden by a very noisy sales pitch. There is not a day that goes by without some policy guy on television telling us, "A college degree is absolutely essential to get on that up escalator to a middle-class life." And the usual evidence offered is the college premium: a college grad who makes on average 56 percent more than a high school grad.
但係呢啲真相成日畀一片叫賣聲掩埋 日日硬係有班政客 喺個公仔箱度同我哋講: 「大學學位好重要, 有佢先可以扶搖直上、做到中產。」 通常理據就係專上學歷競爭力高: 大專畢業比起高中畢業平均賺多 56%
Let's look at that number more carefully, because on the face of it, it seems to belie the stories we all hear about college grads working as baristas and cashiers. Of 100 people who enroll in any form of post-secondary education, 45 do not complete it in a timely fashion, for a number of reasons, including financial. Of the 55 that do graduate, two will remain unemployed, and another 18 are underemployed. So, college grads earn more than high school grads, but does it pay for the exorbitant tuition and the lost wages while at college?
我哋再細心啲解讀個數字 因為驟眼睇 個數字好似喺度推翻緊嗰啲 「大學畢業做收銀沖咖啡」 之類嘅新聞咁 响 100 個有專上學歷嘅人裏面 45 個冇順利畢業 原因好多,財政困難係其一 嗰 55 個順利畢業嘅人 有兩個冇嘢做 有 18 個搵唔到長工 雖然大學畢業生搵得多過中學畢業生 但究竟佢哋夠唔夠填嗰筆巨債 同埋你讀書嗰陣冇咗嘅搵錢機會呢?
Now even economists admit going to college pays off for only those who complete it. But that's only because high school wages have been cut to the bone, for decades now. For decades, workers with a high school degree have been denied a fair share of what they have produced. And had they received as they should have, then going to college would have been a bad investment for many. College premium? I think it's a high school discount.
依家連經濟學家都承認 只有順利畢到業嘅大學生先還得哂 而純粹係因為中學畢業生嘅薪水 幾廿年嚟大幅縮水 咁多年嚟 有高中學歷嘅人 付出同收入唔成正比 若果佢哋可以賺返佢哋應得嘅水平 咁讀大學對好多人嚟講肯定係蝕大本 大學畢業生薪水嘅溢價 我睇都係靠高中畢業生倒貼而嚟
Two out of three people who enroll are not going to find an adequate job. And the future, for them, doesn't look particularly promising -- in fact, it's downright bleak. And it is they who are going to suffer the most punishing forms of student debt. And it is they, curiously and sadly, who are marketed most loudly about this college premium thing. That's not just cynical marketing, that's cruel.
有三份二嘅大學畢業生發現 工作未如理想 佢哋唔睇好前景 或者直情覺得前途暗淡 而正正係佢哋要去承受 學債帶嚟嘅沉重負擔 最心悒嘅係,正正係佢哋 畀人最落力用學位升值呢個理由氹落搭 咁嘅銷售伎倆,自私自利不特止 仲係麻木不仁
So what do we do? What if students and parents treated higher education as a consumer product? Everybody else seems to. Then, like any other consumer product, you would demand to know what you're paying for. When you buy medicines, you get a list of side effects. When you buy a higher educational product, you should have a warning label that allows consumers to choose, make informed choices. When you buy a car, it tells you how many miles per gallon to expect. Who knows what to expect from a degree say, in Canadian Studies. There is such a thing, by the way.
咁我哋做啲乜嘢好? 如果學生同家長都當學位係商品呢? 個個似乎都咁睇 買任何商品嗰陣 你會要人哋清楚交代件貨嘅詳情 你去買藥 佢會寫明有咩副作用 你買件大學商品嗰陣 佢需要有張警告標籤 畀消費者有權揀 知情下做決定 你去買車 佢會話你知每加侖預計跑到幾多里 但冇人會預計到讀完大學 譬如讀完科「加拿大研究」前景會係點 真係有呢個學系㗎
What if there was an app for that? One that linked up the cost of a major to the expected income. Let's call it Income-Based Tuition or IBT. One of you make this.
假如有個應用程式可以話個前景我哋知? 計吓個學費同預期人工係咪成正比 暫且叫個應用程式做 Income-Based Tuition 或者 IBT 啦 係你哋其中一個人設計而嚟
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
Discover your reality.
正視返你嘅前途問題
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
There are three advantages, three benefits to Income-Based Tuition. Any user can figure out how much money he or she will make from a given college and major. Such informed users are unlikely to fall victim to the huckster's ploy, to the sales pitch. But also to choose wisely. Why would anybody pay more for college than let's say, 15 percent of the additional income they earn?
IBT 呢個應用程式有三個好處 用戶可以知道 讀完某某大學同埋學系,人工會係幾多 用家有咗呢啲資訊 就冇咁易 畀啲無良推銷員氹得掂 同時可以揀得明智啲 到時仲邊有人會交一筆 高過預期人工 15% 嘅學費出嚟呢?
There's a second benefit to Income-Based Tuition. By tying the cost to the income, college administrators would be forced to manage costs better, to find innovative ways to do so. For instance, all of you students here pay roughly the same tuition for every major. That is manifestly unfair, and should change. An engineering student uses more resources and facilities and labs and faculty than a philosophy student. But the philosophy student, as a consequence, is subsidizing the engineering student. Who then, by the way, goes on and earns more money. Why should two people buy the same product, pay the same, but one person receive half or a third of the service. In fact, college grads, some majors, pay 25 percent of their income servicing their student debt, while others pay five percent. That kind if inequity would end when majors are priced more correctly.
IBT 有第二個好處 透過顯示學費同薪金嘅關係 大學管理層必須要運用新思維 去妥善釐訂學費 譬如 大部份嘅學生不論學系,學費劃一 呢個制度明顯好唔公平,需要改革 工程系嘅學生通常用到嘅資源 譬如設施、實驗室、教職員呢啲 會多過哲學系嘅學生 但呢班哲學生 變相資助緊班工程系學生 第時人工高一截嘅工程系學生 點解要兩個人買嘅貨一樣 畀嘅錢一樣 但其中一個淨係享用到 一半甚或三份一呢? 事實上,某啲學系嘅畢業生 拎緊人工嘅 25% 嚟還債 但另一啲拎 5% 就得 咁學科收費合理啲就會消除呢啲不公平
Now of course, all this data -- and one of you is going to do this, right? All this data has to be well designed, maybe audited by public accounting firms to avoid statistical lies. We know about statistics, right?
當然啦,而家呢堆資料… 我諗在座會有人走去搞㗎可? 呢堆資料要有人整理好 譬如交畀會計公司做審計 避免畀啲統計數字呃 統計大家都識㗎可?
But be that as it may, the third and biggest benefit of Income-Based Tuition, is it would free Americans from the fear and the fact of financial ruin because they bought a defective product.
除咗正話兩個好處 第三個,而且係 IBT 最大嘅好處 就係令美國人唔使驚再陷入財困 唔使再驚買咗件爛貨返嚟
Perhaps, in time, young and old Americans may rediscover, as the gentleman said earlier, their curiosity, their love of learning -- begin to study what they love, love what they study, follow their passion ... getting stimulated by their intelligence, follow paths of inquiry that they really want to.
或者某個時刻 新舊兩代嘅美國人重新發現 正如頭先嗰位講者所講 對知識嘅追求同熱愛 開始學啲想學嘅嘢 鍾意自己學緊嘅嘢,隨心而行 深受知識所啟發 去探索自己渴望探索嘅事物
After all, it was Eric and Kevin, two years ago, just exactly these kinds of young men, who prompted me and worked with me, and still do, in the study of indebted students in America.
望返轉頭,其實係阿 Eric 同 Kevin 兩年前 正正係呢一班後生仔 佢哋鼓勵我,同我共事 到到而家 依然落力研究緊美國呢個學生貸款問題
Thank you for your attention.
好多謝大家!
(Applause)
(鼓掌)