Is college worth it?
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Turns out a four-year college degree might be a lousy investment.
Newsweek magazine reports in this week's cover story that for a growing number of young people, the extra time and money spent getting a college diploma will leave them worse off.
Many are pointing to the troubling similarities between college tuitions and the housing bubble:
Things like the rapid increase in tuition prices at rates higher than inflation, and people borrowing large sums of money and incurring huge debt.
Part of the problem is that the federal government has increased student aid big time. More people are taking loans - and students are told that this is "good debt," that they're investing in themselves.
But what kind of investment is it if you can't find a job when you graduate?
It's estimated that as many as two-thirds of undergrads come out of school with debt. For many, their loan balances are in the tens of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile half of all recent college graduates are either unemployed or have jobs that don't require a degree. And many are in debt up to their ears from student loans.
As Newsweek writes, "these graduates were told that a diploma was all they needed to succeed but it won't even get them out of the spare bedroom at mom and dad's."
Of course there are all kinds of degrees: a degree in engineering will help you find a job and pay off your loans a whole lot quicker than a liberal arts degree.
But, it's past time to rethink how we invest in higher education.
Some say we should put more young people to work through apprenticeship-style programs where they learn specific jobs skills and also "soft skills" - or how to succeed in the workplace.
Here’s my question to you: Is college worth it?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 4pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
How much safer do you feel 11 years after 9/11?
By CNN's Jack Cafferty:
9/11 changed our world forever.
But a lot more has changed in the 11 years since those scary moments immediately after the terror attacks.
Think back to the days of duct tape, Homeland Security's color-coded terror alerts and anthrax scares.
Going through airport security can still be a hassle – even invasive – but for most of us, that's where the inconvenience ends.
With Osama bin Laden and many of his lieutenants gone terrorism is no longer a major source of worry for most Americans. It has been replaced by fears of an economy gone south and high unemployment.
But the threat of terrorism is far from gone.
In a piece called "A Stubborn Terror," Newsweek magazine reports on how al Qaeda keeps fighting back, with bin Laden's successor Ayman al-Zawahiri calling the shots for this global terror network.
Al Qaeda continues to grow in areas like Pakistan.
The group based in the Arabian Peninsula has staged three attacks on the United States, including the infamous Christmas "underwear bomber."
In Iraq, al Qaeda carries out bombings every month.
In North Africa, it has joined forces with other Islamist extremists and the groups are training terrorists from Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria.
In Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, a new al Qaeda group is trying to start a war between Egypt and Israel.
The fastest growing al Qaeda operation of all is in Syria, thriving on the Civil War and chaos. It carried out more than 60 attacks in June alone.
But the priority remains attacking the United States and Europe.
As Newsweek writes, "In fighting terror, our team has to stay lucky 100% of the time. Al Qaeda needs to be lucky only once."
Here’s my question to you: How much safer do you feel 11 years after 9/11?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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