College Affordability

If people can't afford to further their education,or have to go into a lifetime of debt to do so,I think it will result in an inability on the part of our country to compete with other countries where people are more well educated. We desparately need to start developing and implementing alternative energy sources,for example.Other countries are light years ahead of us,and when the crush from peak oil worsens,we'll be some sorry motherfuckers.

I don't know, I've seen too many people not working while they mope around a community college for the better part of a decade and never manage to get a degree. Maybe "education for all" is a racket and maybe some people just don't rate a four year degree that they're never going to use. I guess its just like health care or any of the other shit we pay too much for... as long as a select group of assholes makes huge profits from it, we will pay too much for it.

The class of 2010 graduated with over $25,000 in student debt, which is a five percent jump from the year before. But this number doesn't include for-profit colleges like Kaplan and DeVry, which are booming and are very unscrupulous when it comes to their practices of handing out loans to unqualified students, either academically or financially or both. Hitting new graduates even harder is their ability to repay those loans, especially given the lack of well paying jobs. All this is directly contributing to the high cost of college educations. The cost of a college tuition is increasing at a far faster clip than the rate of inflation because of certain poorly designed market mechanisms. The government has gotten into the business of helping private lenders find new customers (e.g. students). This is happening as states cut funding for higher public education, and as Pell Grants and other Federal and state scholarships dry up. Those private lenders step in to fill the gap by putti... Read more

I don't think this is as big of an issue as many people make it out to be. Yes...college CAN be very expensive. However, there are routes that an individual can take which, while not cheap, they should be able to afford. First...if you cannot afford a 4 year institution, attend a community college first. CC's get a bad rep, but this is usually coming from people who had the resources to attend a 4 year school. Yes...a CC might not provide the "college experience" that most young people are looking for, but the government shouldn't be concerned about whether a person can afford to live in a dorm, hang out on the quad, and attend frat parties. The second thing that comes to my mind is student loans. In my experience these were not hard to obtain. Yes...it sucks that I'm still paying for college years after completing it. However, the interest rates are good, and the expense of college should be looked at as an investment. If people make sacrifices and use the resources that are already... Read more

This is not an issue...unless you happen to believe that a college education is an entitlement.

College is expensive, really? news to me :)

Unless you're unusually smart or have rich parents who pay for stuff half your life, this is a huge issue. Sadly, most of us can't afford to go to a decent college without working overtime while attending classes. Let's see you get a scholarship when you're working full time through high school and college.

College is rapidly becoming out of reach for many Americans due to the skyrocketing cost. Students who at one point could have afforded a 4-year university ten years ago have been priced out and must attend community colleges; some cannot even afford this. It is simply becoming unaffordable.

I don't see this is a political issue. No one has the rights to college. There are already so many programs available to help pay for college. Loans, scholarships, payment plans, etc. can all help in paying for it. Also, its very smart to get a job when your a teenager to help save for college. You can even get free college- just enlist with the military. Not only will it look good on applications, most of your college will be free, or at a drastic lower cost to you. I also believe most people can afford to go to a decent college anyway. And, some parents plan this way in advance.