General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The double-standard of making the poor prove they’re worthy of government benefits [View all]lostnfound
(16,184 posts)You wrote :
"We don't require Pell Grant recipients to prove that they're pursuing a degree that will get them a real job one day (sorry, no poetry!)."
Well it's not tied to Pell grants but (likely due to influence of Koch brothers and other ideologues) Florida and Wisconsin have both been showing signs of insisting that colleges turn into job and career preparation factories and away from the broader goals of higher learning.
So in Florida, and 25 other states, departments at public universities were obligated to prove that their graduates got jobs at certain rates, in order to retain funding. "Women and gender studies" or philosophy etc would likely get funding cut. Apparently this is supported by politicians on the left as well as on the right.
http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2015/12/31/best-of-stateline-states-to-colleges-prove-youre-worth-it
In Wisconsin, Scott walker attempted to change the stated purpose of their university system to be focused on preparing students for jobs.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker submitted a budget proposal that included language that would have changed the century-old mission of the University of Wisconsin system known as the Wisconsin Idea and embedded in the state code by removing words that commanded the university to search for truth and improve the human condition and replacing them with meet the states workforce needs.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/02/05/how-gov-walker-tried-to-quietly-change-the-mission-of-the-university-of-wisconsin/