In addition to not being thrilled by about writing this Benito told me less than an hour ago that some big Supreme Court case about trade school student debt was recently decided.  He said maybe Mike Triforce should write it since he was a real lawyer.  He knew it was a mistake as soon as he said it.  Anyway, I apologize for the length of the post but Alpha Man and I have an agreement not to let Mike Triforce comment on anything of substance.

Truth be told, although its the Supreeeeme Coooourt (Woooooo!) the case is actually of very little consequence to most debtors.  Essentially a student who had trade school student debt managed to get the debt discharged but failed to show undue hardship was in danger of having his debt reinstated.  The court ruled that this fact, that the student was never asked to show undue hardship, does not void the contract eliminating his debt.  So what it boils down to is a lender made an accounting error and the Supreme Court said it was too late to fix it. 

Now that I’ve addressed that please read my prepared remarks

So again, I was insulted when Benito asked me to write this. Why is being a paralegal a “trade” when I work in the same office and make more than the contract attorneys? Nursing is a “professional” school. Also keep in mind everyone else got to choose a topic for their post of the week. I was considering expanding my previous post about deception in higher education. Maybe here I can do both – after all Benito’s crooked mustache is endearing. It says “I have never been employed long enough to learn to shave properly.”

So it would seem trade schools and for-profit colleges are moving in on the federal student loan money coveted by more traditional institutions. I am no lawyer, but I have forgotten more law than 85% of lawyers have ever known save for the week leading up to the bar exam and that’s doubly true for lawyers who want to go into politics. The Ivy, fringe ivy and state flagship institutions that the majority of congressmen attend sooner or later are going to pressure their esteemed alumni to close this loop hole or make it more difficult to get federal loan money for trade school. But things are going to get much worse before they get better.

Now as a disclaimer, like borrowing heavily over your entire young adult life to attend Ivy League institutions does pay off in some cases, so does going to trade school to learn a new skill.  That said here is the scam – create a non- accredited for profit institution, tell potential students that they will make a standard middle class salary upon graduation and then advertise, advertise, advertise. Hell even I have considered ITT tech. Where the scam differs from the traditional Ivy League scam is the technique for lying. The Ivy League specializes in half-truths. Trade schools concoct their fabrications from scratch.

Here’s a better idea. If you want to learn a trade offer your labor to a practitioner for free. I believe the term is apprenticeship. Alternatively you could offer to pay a practitioner on the side for personal instruction. Surprise, surprise people are looking for extra money these days. You could learn anything Benito knows for a package of Oreo cookies and a tube of toothpaste.

Get what you need. Pay what you can. All the roads lead to nowhere. You’re going to have to make your own way. If you’re trying something no one else has you are probably on the right track.