The Neoliberal Agenda and the Student Debt Crisis in U.S. Higher Education (Routledge Studies in Education, Neoliberalism, and Marxism)

Capturing the voices of Americans living with student debt in the United States, this collection critiques the neoliberal interest-driven, debt-based system of U.S. higher education and offers alternatives to neoliberal capitalism and the corporatized university. Grounded in an understanding of the historical and political economic context, this book offers auto-ethnographic experiences of living in debt, and analyzes alternatives to the current system. Chapter authors address real questions such as, Do collegians overestimate the economic value of going to college? and How does the monetary system that student loans are part of operate? Pinpointing how developments in the political economy are accountable for students' university experiences, this book provides an authoritative contribution to research in the fields of educational foundations and higher education policy and finance. Financing Higher Education In The United States : An Historical Overview Of Loans In Federal Financial Aid Policy / Enyu Zhou And Pilar Mendoza -- Bankruptcy Means-testing, Austerity Measures, And Student Loan Debt / Linda Elizabeth Coco -- African American Student Loan Debt : Deferring The Dream Of Higher Education / Cynthia D. Levy -- Monetary Critique And Student Debt / Lucille L.t. Eckrich -- The Rise Of The Adjuncts : Neoliberalism Invades The Professoriate / Amy E. Swain -- Bfamfaphd : An Adjunct Professor's Personal Experience With Student Debt Long After Leaving Graduate School / Celeste M. Walker -- Debt(s) We Can't Walk Out On : National Adjunct Walkout Day, Complicity, And The Neoliberal Threat To Social Movements In The Academy / Brandon O. Hensley -- Misplaced Faith In The American Dream : Buried In Debt In The Catacombs Of The Ivory Tower / Brian R. Horn -- An Adjunct Professor's Communication Barriers With Neoliberal Student Debt Collectors / Antonio L. Ellis -- Golden Years In The Red : Student Loan Debt As Economic Slavery / Kay Ann Taylor -- Go Back To College?, Why Would I? / Melissa A. Del Rio -- Free Tuition : Prospects For Extending Free Schooling Into The Postsecondary Years / James C. Palmer And Melissa R. Pitcock -- Work Colleges As An Alternative To Student Loan Debt / Nicholas D. Hartlep And Diane R. Dean -- It Takes More Than A Village, It Takes A Nation / Daniel A. Collier, Timothy Jameson Brewer, P.s. Meyers, And Allison Witt -- Monetary Transformation And Public Education / Lucille L.t. Eckrich -- Reflections On The Future : Setting The Agenda For A Post-neoliberal U.s. Higher Education / Nicholas D. Hartlep, Brandon O. Hensley, And Lucille L.t. Eckrich. Edited By Nicholas D. Hartlep, Lucille L.t. Eckrich, And Brandon O. Hensley. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. 1. Financing higher education in the United States : an historical overview of loans in federal financial aid policy / Enyu Zhou and Pilar Mendoza -- 2. Bankruptcy means-testing, austerity measures, and student loan debt / Linda Elizabeth Coco -- 3. African American student loan debt : deferring the dream of higher education / Cynthia D. Levy -- 4. Monetary critique and student debt / Lucille L.T. Eckrich -- 5. The rise of the adjuncts : neoliberalism invades the professoriate / Amy E. Swain -- 6. "BfaMfaPhD" : an adjunct professor's personal experience with student debt long after leaving graduate school / Celeste M. Walker -- 7. Debt(s) we can't walk out on : National Adjunct Walkout Day, complicity, and the neoliberal threat to social movements in the academy / Brandon O. Hensley -- 8. Misplaced faith in the American Dream : buried in debt in the catacombs of the Ivory Tower / Brian R. Horn -- 9. An adjunct professor's communication barriers with neoliberal student debt collectors / Antonio L. Ellis -- 10. "Golden years" in the red : student loan debt as economic slavery / Kay Ann Taylor -- 11. Should I go back to college? / Melissa A. Del Rio -- 12. Free tuition : prospects for extending free schooling into the postsecondary years / James C. Palmer and Melissa R. Pitcock -- 13. "Work colleges" as an alternative to student loan debt / Nicholas D. Hartlep and Diane R. Dean -- 14. It takes more than a village, it takes a nation / Daniel A. Collier, Timothy Jameson Brewer, P.S. Meyers, and Allison Witt -- 15. Monetary transformation and public education / Lucille L.T. Eckrich -- 16. Reflections on the future : setting the agenda for a post-neoliberal U.S. higher education / Nicholas D. Hartlep, Brandon O. Hensley, and Lucille L.T. Eckrich Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- List of Contributors -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Part I Critical Perspectives on Financing Higher Education in the United States -- 1 Financing Higher Education in the United States: A Historical Overview of Loans in Federal Financial Aid Policy -- 2 Bankruptcy Means-Testing, Austerity Measures, and Student Loan Debt -- 3 African American Student Loan Debt: Deferring the Dream of Higher Education -- 4 Monetary Critique and Student Debt -- Part II The Debt That Won't Go Away: Stories of Non-Dischargeable Student Debt -- 5 The Rise of the Adjuncts: Neoliberalism Invades the Professoriate -- 6 "BFAMFAPhD": An Adjunct Professor's Personal Experience With Student Debt Long After Leaving Graduate School -- 7 Debt(s) We Can't Walk Out On: National Adjunct Walkout Day, Complicity, and the Neoliberal Threat to Social Movements in the Academy -- 8 Misplaced Faith in the American Dream: Buried in Debt in the Catacombs of the Ivory Tower -- 9 An Adjunct Professor's Communication Barriers With Neoliberal Student Debt Collectors -- 10 "Golden Years" in the Red: Student Loan Debt as Economic Slavery -- 11 Should I Go Back to College? -- Part III Alternatives to American Neoliberal Financing of Higher Education -- 12 Free Tuition: Prospects for Extending Free Schooling Into the Postsecondary Years -- 13 "Work Colleges" as an Alternative to Student Loan Debt -- 14 It Takes More Than a Village, It Takes a Nation -- 15 Monetary Transformation and Public Education -- 16 Reflections on the Future: Setting the Agenda for a Post-Neoliberal U.S. Higher Education -- Name Index -- Subject Index Summary:Capturing the voices of Americans living with student debt in the United States, this collection critiques the neoliberal interest-driven, debt-based system of U.S. higher education and offers alternatives to neoliberal capitalism and the corporatized university.