Richard Branson's latest crusade is reforming the university system around the world.
The Virgin CEO, who dropped out of high school at age 16, spoke out on his blog:
All over the world, university students are ratching up thousands of dollars/pounds/pesos worth of debts, completely unnecessarily. Lengthy university courses are set more for the convenience of the professors rather than the students and yet the students end up paying for them. Here in Chile, seven year courses are not uncommon and the debts that the students accumulate for their courses are real debts unlike in other countries. So if a student cannot afford to repay their student loans, it destroys their credit ratings and their ability to get mortgages, etc. There needs to be an urgent rethink in all countries around the globe. Courses for most subjects need to be slashed in half so that students can get out into the real world quicker with less debt and the ability to start earning.
The fun-loving billionaire has proved persistent in past crusades, like his war on the war on drugs. We wish him luck tackling this one.
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See Also:
- Graduate Students Come Out As Big Losers In The Debt Deal
- Student Loan Debt Is About To Hit $1 Trillion
- Law Is By Far The Highest Paying Subject For Professors