Peter Thiel on Facebook, Technology, and the Higher Education Bubble

via Reason TV


"Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel co-founded PayPal, was an early investor in Facebook, and currently serves as president of the global macro hedge fund Clarium Capital. He recently announced the creation of the Thiel Fellowship, which will award $100,000 each to 20 people under 20 years old to "stop out" of college and create their own business ventures.


During the recent Libertopia festival in Hollywood, California, Thiel sat down with Reason.tv's Tim Cavanaugh to talk about the new film The Social Network, technology, exit rights, and the higher education bubble.


Approximately 9 minutes. Interview by Tim Cavanaugh. Camera by Adam Jensen, Zach Weissmueller."

Montana students have the lowest default rate

via Montana Policy Institute - link to full article

"With student loan default rates increasing nationally every year since 2005, Montana’s rate for the most recent year was just 1.8 percent. That compares with a national rate of 7 percent. Those numbers are from Fiscal Year 2008, the most recent year for which data are available." 

I actually just learned this piece of information during my mandatory loan counseling at Montana Tech. This is a rather impressive statistic, although it is difficult to explain exactly why this is. The article attributes this to the responsible nature of Montana youth. While this may be true, I am more apt to look at the job placement ratings. Defaulting on your student loans implies that you had a tough time finding a good paying job. This data would indicate that colleges in Montana are exceptional at preparing their graduates for the job market. This makes me a little more optimistic about my chances of finding a job when I graduate.