The high cost of college (and the diminishing of financial support for our public universities, community colleges, and trade schools) is only half the problem. The other half is the economy--where so many graduates cannot find jobs and the jobs they do find pay too little to live on, let alone pay back their college loans.
But I predict that the same readers will again write in and blame students for accumulating more debt than they can handle. Parents and grandparents used to help pay for their kids' college education. Now even they cannot afford to. We are spiraling down and it is not the fault of eighteen year old high school graduates.

With all due respect, the average student loan is closer to $24,000. http://www.finaid.org/loans/

This is such an overblown issue since most colleges award grants based upon need. I graduated 40 years ago with a loan greater than my starting salary and that is not inconsistent with today's situation for those requiring loans. The poor don't pay anything for even the best colleges if they came out of high school with decent grades and preparation. Those that didn't study in high school and want to go goof off in college studing poly science or art and need loans to do it need to think about finding a job and going to community colleges where the cost is lower.

Rabbi Gerard,

I agree with your premise that high college costs and the economy contribute greatly to the problem. While I also support increasing support for public institutions, I am concerned that public university tuitions were rising considerably faster than the inflation rate before the cuts of the last few years. As Mark Cuban points out, the marketplace has to adjust and people have to become informed consumers. That has not happened, so colleges happily continue charging more and some continue to hawk the government subsidized loans.

However, I will make your prediction true. Students and their parents must take responsibility for not being informed consumers. They did not agree to the loans under duress. It is an issue of personal responsibility. You buy what you can afford. If you want more, you work to make it possible.

I believe that bailing out and excusing individuals, banks, and corporations for bad personal and business decisions is poor policy. There are consequences for bad decisions and people don't want to face them. It is the largest single problem facing our society today.

I applaud parents like the author who save for their children's education. Many (not all) who don't can afford to but decide that their lifestyle is more important. That is another sad problem.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/05/16/mark-cuban-college-is-a-business-decision

So...if i understand your comment--polItical science and art have less value than what YOU chose to study. Well, for the record, political science studies how groups behave in ways that make history. No trifle there. And art: Maxine Greene has written that of all fields of knowledge, art is the most important because it is only through the imagination that humans learn empathy. Supporting arts education might be the BEST investment a society can make. It is certainly not the worst. All's Quiet on the Western Front may not have brought an end to war but Alfred Nobel and Albert Einstein both (inadvertently) made the world a more terrifying place. No artist ever made war and the arts are the highest expression of human behavior, except maybe an unassisted triple play.

Just think of how much federal aid could be given for education were it not being wasted on foolish wars halfway around the world! Or, imagine where the country would be if the government had invested the three trillion dollars it spent on the wars in the Middle East on alternative energy research and development!

My comment above is to "patriot"2. to Carpl I will just add that parents and students cannot predict what the economy will be like after graduation. But banks can. In fact they determine what it will be like--so they should be held far more accountable for the debt situation, even though personal accountability is also important.

Research the STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) initiative. If you want to make serious money try to stay in these fields. Don't expect to make big money with a liberal arts, music, or religion degree. If that's the path you choose, maybe try attending a community college where the tuition is much lower. That way when you graduate with a lower salary, you will have much less student debt.

Rosemary, along those same lines, I wish they'd offered a course in high school for boys on how to understand and meet the needs of a woman partner.

Its simple folks, live within your means. If you cant afford it dont buy it. Dont assume you are entitled to anything. Self responsibility seems to be disappearing in america more and more every year. Remember the saying " Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country " well i dont believe anyone thinks that way any more. People borrow amazing sums of money then act surprised when they cant afford to pay it back, then they shug their shoulders and say oh well ill blame everything and everyone else but me and say someone else should pay. Now please dont misjudge me i believe people truly in need should be helped anyway possible i help people,friends and strangers whenever i can but if we refuse to take responsibility for our own actions we are fighting a losing battle.

I once figured out that in order to pay cash for a MODEST 4 yr college my family would have had to have saved $400 per child per month since the day they were born. We have 3 kids. That would have been $1200 a month for the past 13 yrs. I am sure there are families out there that could have done that, but not us. We do occasionally like to eat and 5 of us living full time in a tent would have been rough!

Want to join the many voices that are screaming to Congress and the Senate, wake up, this is what we need, and we demand you hear us. There are several listed methods below on how to become engaged in the political discourse:

Popvox: click here
(https://www.popvox.com/).
Open Congress: click here
(http://www.opencongress.org//).
Gov Tracks: click here
(http://www.govtrack.us/).
Politico Open Forum: click here
(http://dyn.politico.com/members/forums/index.html)

Want to join Robert Applebaum in the FSLD lobbying process:

Robert Applebaum, the founder of The Forgive Student Loan Debt (FSLD) organization will use contributions in its avocation in a number of diverse ways.

Please help promote: H.R. 4170 The Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012

Please sign this petition: 946,159 signatures strong as May 17, 2012 click here
(http://signon.org/sign/support-the-student-loan.fb1?source=s.fb&r_by=1117051).

Would you like to contribute: click here
(https://youlobby.com/campaigns/123/).

Want to contact you Congress person: (http://www.contactingthecongress.org/).
Want to contact your state Representatives: (http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/).
Want to contact all your governmental representatives: (http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml).

for more info: http://studentloandebacle.blogspot.com/

Enough of the bailing out!!! Like Ron said, "Don't live beyond your means" whether its housing or education we all need to be thruthful about the repercussions and make informed decisions!!! I'm surprised to be the first to mention Vocational Education. Even 25 years ago i was deterred from attending Vo-Tech because i was a good student! That kind of thinking still exists today and is just plain senseless! The stigma Vo-Techs have carried for years as being just a holding tank for the bad or lazy student is absurd! Incredible opportunites exist at Vo-Techs and it would greatly benefit everyone if parents and counselors would open their minds to this free opportunity and really see what kind of programs exist. Its not just carpentry and auto mechanics, it's also computer programing or child care. From engineers to artists, everyone needs a home to live in with running water and technology for high-grade wiring, along with their car to be repaired and their children to be cared for properly. This world needs all kinds of educated people, and lets face it...NOT ALL EDUCATION HAS TO BE OBTAINED FROM HIGH PRICED COLLEGES!!!!!!! For example: Graduate in Cosmetology from a Vo-Tech, be state licensed and ready to work or attend beauty school, be in debt for $18,000-$25,000, and have trouble working at the same time during the 1 year full-time program. That Vo-Tech student has at least a 1 year head start with $25,000 less debt! I attended both college & Vo-Tech, keep an open mind!

well, i've finally read enough of "Jonathan Gerard" to finally be able to across-the-board dismiss anything he says. There was an argument in here that the cost of education should be based on ROI. How about the prospective students make the decision about whether they will have return on their investment. I work in a business where our prospective customers make a decision based on how much we try to sell a project for...as opposed to forcing them to buy at some bloated rate and then they whine about it. Is anyone forcing these kids to take on massive amounts of debt to study something that won't show them a return? i know, i know, people can't control what they're passionate about or interested in and want to make a career out of, but the fact is that there is little difference between the high priced schools and the lesser priced. all the school gets you is an interview. once you're 1 or 2 years out of school all that matters is what you've done since school. On another point, a lot of people support these loan forgiveness acts and all. well, i know two types of people. the first are people who worked 2 jobs while in college for a double major and sacrificed some of the social aspects so that they could graduate without huge debts. the other people are crybabies who partied all the time because they were studying some useless subject that doesn't pay for their loan.

Call me an idealistic teenager, but the only thing I want to limit me is my aptitude to succeed academically and creatively. Students SHOULD be able to go to whatever college they can get accepted to. If they can get into Harvard, but don't have the money to pay for it, I'd tell them to go. They should get what they deserve as decided by the work THEY'VE done. You can't ask for more than that from anyone.

Tommy Walters is right. Everyone who has written here insisting that people stay within their means when choosing a college is saying 2 things:
1. Only the rich should go to America's expensive schools, and
2. The school we go to should no longer be based on merit but rather on means.

What a sad prospect for our country. Instead of finding a way to make the best college education available to those who work hard and excel in high school writers are now saying that, if you're too poor to afford Penn State, go to cosmetology school.
Well, I want our best brains to study physics and medicine. I want our best artists to study art. I want our best problem solvers to study public administration. Etc.

Some people oppose affirmative action, saying that it lets minority students into schools at the expense of others who deserve it more. Now you're saying that it's ok for George W. Bush to go to Yale but his very smart and talented but middle class classmate in the next seat over, with 1600 SATs, should just settle for what she can afford. That's not the America I grew up in or hope to pass on to my grandchildren. I feel very badly that so many would take away from our children the single most important and successful mechanism in America for improving one's place in society--education. "You're poor?" many are saying; stay poor. Go study what you can afford. That's the responsible thing to do." No. The responsible thing to do is to strive for self-fulfillment--with our help.

Millions of students have passed on colleges, including Harvard, because of financial issues and I am happy to report that they are successful and not saddled with debt. In the end, it is not where you got your education or what you studied, it's what you do with it. If arts are your passion, go for it. It's better to be middle class and happy than miserable but more affluent.

The only thing that everyone deserves is an opportunity, but there are compromises that have to be made. If you take out loans to pursue the opportunity, that is your choice, live up to it. However, don't expect others to pay for your choice if it doesn't work out the way you thought it would.

Actually, DOCurmudgeon, there IS a lower form of life--one who, hiding behind a fake name, publishes an ethnic slur against the Welsh people--who I am sure, are no more negligent than any other nationality in repaying their debts.
But the tone of this comment is consistent with all the other negative comments. It focuses on the responsibility to repay debt--WHILE, NOWHERE IN THE ORIGINAL COLUMN WAS THERE ANY SUGGESTION TO THE CONTRARY--instead of making suggestions about how to bring college costs down and how to help students pay off their college loans--no matter how low or high they are--when they cannot find a job.
How about this: for every year (or two?) that a graduate spends in the military or in the Peace Corps or in Teach for America or in a national peace-corps-type program (like VISTA) 20% of their loan is forgiven?
Now, what would "forgiven" mean? Would it mean that taxpayers would pay back the lenders? Would it mean that the lenders absorb the loss as their contribution to rebuilding America? A combination of the two? This would be a discussion that honors the thoughtful columns that Ms. Peterson has given us.

I'm sure if you looked up "Indian giver" you'd find a definition. And you'd find "jew" to be a verb. Dictionaries describe; they don't prescribe. Why do you resist becoming a bit more sensitive in your speech? (Whom do you think the term "cotton picking" as an adjective referred to?)
Anyway, I agree that one can find ways to get rid of debt but it doesn't answer the column's original question about how our very smartest kids, if they aren't rich, can go to good colleges and universities--even public ones--given the current cost. Most responders have been satisfied to say, simply, "They shouldn't."

There's another side to this not yet mentioned. When parents pay $60,000 a year for their child's college education, they are not willing to accept anything less than a B. So because of the high cost (and the school's fear of losing the paying customer or of a suit, if the low grade isn't well documented) grade inflation has come to make college grades relatively meaningless.
We probably all agree that the costs are too high and graduates come out with too much debt. So let's get beyond that and come up with reasonable solutions--not just f*ck the poor people and the middle class kids. They should settle for a second rate college or become a cosmetologist and earn even less than their parents. Future income (and professional connections) are directly related to education. That is a given, despite the occasional exception.

I am also hoping that our economy improves so that more taxes are collected and the states will be able to spend money on education again. And then graduates will be able to find jobs, pay back their student loans and move out of their parents basements and on with their lives!

If I'm not mistaken the kind of house I buy is limited by my "means" so why not education? You buy what you can afford in all areas. If the gov't is going to forgive these loans you do know who is picking the tab right? I didn't get a say in picking the college or the debt so why ask taxpayers to pick up the tab now? We are not teaching our kids to live within their means.....

From Ms. Peterson's column:
A decade ago, 58 percent of families didn’t have to take out loans to send their child to public colleges and universities. By 2008-2009, only 7 percent could say the same.

Daryl and Jonathan, are you suggesting that College should be like k-12 and fully funded by taxpayer money to make it affordable to all?

Jonathan, you misconstrued my message. I was not saying if you are too poor for Penn State, go to cosmetology school. I didn't even mention Penn State. My point was this: there are other options for some kids other than college. If college is mandatory, then plan according to your means. I worked while in college, had no help from parents or grants, then had to quit to proceed to work full time (with skills learned from a Vo-Tech, by the way), while continuing college part time for many years. It took me much longer than 4 years to finish & I still incurred college loan debt. I don't know what the solution is, I was just offering the idea of open mindedness with education. By the way, I did attend Penn State, Cedar Crest College, & Metro Beauty Academy. I have had to make 4 career changes to make a living. Education is an ongoing process & individual sacrifices often incur....

Thanks for the sermons, everyone.
Now, instead of advice, how about solutions? How does a very smart middle class kid, with good grades and board scores, go to the school he or she's accepted at and deserves to go to? The only thing keeping him or her from going is the money thing. Are we going to perpetuate, and even further entrench, economic inequality in America? Or are we going to find a way, as a society, to educate our brightest youth?
Many of you are saying that if one comes from a family making, say, $60,000/year you should not take on an irresponsible amount of debt to attend a good college or major university--even a public one--because they are too expensive. OK. We this. So now let's hear from those who DO want these bright kids to have the education they deserve. They don't play football. They aren't valedictorians. They're A- or B+ students. Should we help them and how do we do it?
We do not need more sermons about how others should do it the way the writer did it. We don't need more testimony that students should not borrow more money than they know with certainty they can pay back. We've been told that many times above. Let's hear some helpful solutions to the problem raised in the original column: how do we reduce the costs, say, of our state universities, and increase the ability of our academically successful high school graduates to attend?

We do get a lot of sermons here--
1. Margie Peterson writes a balanced and insightful column (an award winning one, I should add)
2. A few people read their own issues into the column, failing to see the real point she was making (in this case people have been railing against irresponsible debt rather than dealing with the problem of stratospheric college costs)
3. These readers then write in their complaints about some conjured population of bad people
4. Many also share what they did when they were in that situation--saying specifically or implying that if it was good enough for them, it should be good enough for others
5. The comments then congregate around the commenter's sermon or life-advice or criticism of the "bad" people on the other side
6. The original column and the issues it raised get lost in all these other writers' assertions.

We have too many assertions. I think (here comes my own assertion) that we need comments can bring facts from different fields and different parts of the brain together to come up with solutions. The great American ideology is pragmatism. Let's all try to be more pragmatic and less critical. Let's solve problems, not just complain that they are the result of others' bad behavior.

Here's an assertion--unfounded but, I think, helpful and thus justified: Let's assume that most people are trying to do their best. We all screw up sometimes, but almost never on purpose. Look for the good in people and help them achieve it.

Rosemary, "free ride" scholarships are rare. Colleges expect you to dig into your pockets pretty deeply. I did the digging, so I know. Athletic scholarships -- the myth is that they're free rides. Most of them are a few thousand bucks, tops, and the day you get injured is the day the scholarship ends.
On the topic of loans, some schools have really abused the situation by overselling the schooling and not caring about the student's and his family's financial well being. I know of a for-profit technical school that nearly drove a family friend into severe financial trouble, and they used every seedy pressure sales tactic to do it. I intervened and got everything canceled, but I had to pull strings to make that happen.
If you think "it's the kid's fault" for signing a loan he couldn't afford, then ask yourself some hard questions about the mortgage crisis. Can you calculate what portion of this month's mortgage payment went to principal and what portion went to interest? (I do mean "calculate" -- no fair using a computer. Get out the equations, a pocket calculator and a pencil.)
It's a tragedy that we don't teach financial literacy in this country, but the fact is that in our rush to teach computer skills and scientific math, we've let financial math -- which is relatively simple by comparison -- go untaught and unlearned.

Why is college so expensive? Have you listened to the directors of admissions? Most applicants equate prestige with high cost, so prices have risen absurdly, decade after decade. At some point, this bubble had to burst (just like the bubble of selling 17 million cars per year, the bubble of building too many houses and overpricing them ridiculously, the oversupply in commercial in retail and office space). We are witnessing the bursting of the college tuition bubble.
College should teach many things, foremost among them quantitative math and science, critical thinking and communication skills. The acting classes mentioned earlier teach communication skills, which people from Ronald Reagan to Steve Jobs have used to good advantage. I don't like TV reporters with no grasp of science, and I don't like engineers with no sense of aesthetics or voters with no knowledge of history.

Jonathan, no sermons, just solutions:

1 - We need a national strike to force the government to stop fighting very costly and completely unnecessary wars whose only beneficiaries are the defense contractors. The money for these wars can be used to fund worthy students' college tuition costs if indeed taxpayers dollars should be used for this purpose.

2 - Along the same lines, we need to slowly but surely cut defense spending, this money can be reallocated for educational purposes across the boards, not only at the college level. Presently the US military budget is equal to the military budgets of the next 15 nations combined. This is outrageous and completely unacceptable.

3 - Along with 1 and 2 we can begin to shut down some of the military bases we have in 135 of the 180+ nations on the planet. The savings would be staggering, empire building is expensive.

4 - If we're no longer meddling in the affairs of other countries as we have been for decades, we can shut down the Department of Homeland Security and their TSA cretins as terrorism will subside. More money will be saved.

Well I mean, he makes a good point I think! If it is true that our military budget is equal to that of the next 15 nations combined... I mean... that's a little overboard? I don't know, don't you think we could find ANY of that money to reallocate?

Solutions?? There have been some solutions offered by others on this forum. College is a business decision
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/05/16/mark-cuban-college-is-a-business-decision
Students today(along with their parents) need to be “smart”consumers when shopping for the higher eduction they desire or need. They also need to be realistic in their choice of field of study. Somebody mentioned STEM fields. We need to steer more students into these type of career choices; science, technology, engineering & math. I wish more students would enter finance and economics, maybe that would help more people be able to deal with the realities of how to manage the monetary costs of managing their lives and our country.
http://news.investors.com/article/588637/201110191813/college-has-been-oversold.htm?p=full
The author of this story makes the key point I think some on this forum are trying to make. “Going to college is not enough. You also have to study the right subjects. And American students are not studying the fields with the greatest economic potential.” The amount of college graduates has increased 50% over the last 25 years but that increase is not reflected in STEM fields. The number of college grads in these fields remain flat. Are these not the fields where we would see the innovation and economic advances that will take us into the future?

cont'd
Instead college grads today are choosing to earn degrees in visual & performing arts, psychology, and communication & journalism. The number of students in these subjects has doubled in the past 25 years. It sounds nice to say all young people today deserve to go to the school of their choice but should we be subsidizing those that are choosing fields that don't drive innovation & economic growth? It would be nice if we could all take a low- paying job we loved, follow a dream,work for a cause or send every deserving student to the elite college of their choice if these types of pursuits actually paid off. Unfortunately we need to balance all of that with a dose of reality. Every student needs to weigh the cost of their education with the potential economic benefits they will reap after they've earned their degree before they make that decision to go to an expensive school and take on that school loan.

The issue here is about 2 things; Greed on the part of colleges, and fiscal incompetence on the parent/student.

Colleges are no better than the real estate brokers 5 years ago, enticing people into buying a product they can I'll afford. Not even as bad as a car salesman selling ou a car you cannot afford, or a real estate agent selling you a home you cannot afford. The only thing they do is lock you into a fixed cost. Colleges do one step worse, and get you in and raise tuition annually.

Part two is the parent. If Johnnie doesn't know what he wants to do, recommend Community college. If Johnnie's GPA in high school was 2.0, suggest trade school. Of you and Johnnie have nothing is savings, then taking on a $24,000 burden is quite overwhelming. Although this may be an average, this also takes into account the families who have fiscally planned for education...so I believe this number to be considerably higher. Parents, learn to tell your children "no"!!! Placing them and you with a $50,000 debt for a bachelors I simply ludicrous. I personally have 6 nieces and nephews with an average $62,000 in debt, and each averaging @ $39,000 of annual income. They pay $750/month on this loan. Ludicrous!

Parents need to educate themselves on the cost of the intended college and set parameters for their kids before they apply. Joelle, I was citing a statistic that says the average student loan debt is around $24,000 - NOT the cost of attendance. I have two kids that graduated college and one who just finished his first year. I have a very good idea of how much college costs. All three of our kids went to, or are attending private colleges.

The college search now is not like it was 20 or 30 years ago. The information is out there on what colleges cost and the average amount of grants and financial aid available. My older two kids colleges cost just over the amount of attending PSU in-state because they chose colleges that gave very good merit aid. The sticker price for one college was $42,000 but 96% of the students were awarded some type of financial aid. Their loans when they graduated were around $7,000 each.

Parents need to tell their kids the amount they can afford, up front, before visits, before they set their hearts on some very expensive college. Thirty years ago when my generation was going to college, the cost was about the same as a community college and it was do-able for a person to put themselves through college. That is not the case today and it does a HS student a huge disservice if parents do not educate themselves and give their children clear guidance on expenses.

My Son attended University in Ottawa Canada, total cost was 32k, got an immediate job with a global company making in excess of 80k due to the fact he was American, Internationally educated and fluent in English, French and Spanish. Now my Daughter is attending University in Montreal at a cost of 4 years for 34k

John, The sticker price of private colleges is one thing, what people pay is entirely different. Merit aid is not need based aid. We saved enough for a PSU (in-state) education and that's about what we paid. No way were we willing or able to pay full price. When the acceptance offers and financial aid statements come in, the real price is all there. The avg. grant at my son's college was $18,000. I'm not sure what parents are thinking allowing kids to take out more loans then they can reasonably pay back or perhaps hocking their own future.

I'm wondering if the tone of this discussion reflects the different cultural values of the writers. There are parents who sacrifice everything they have for their children's education. I know people who borrow $50,000 just for their wedding. Some people borrow a fortune to pay for a vacation. No one should borrow more than they can pay back but if a parent feels that the best education (and opportunity) their child can get is at a school with a very high cost (as is true with most quality four-year undergraduate liberal arts programs) then I am sympathetic to their struggle to balance what's the most important thing to mortgage future earnings against.
In a different time, California did consider extending free public education through a bachelor's degree. Once we only paid for education through eighth grade. A new world required that we require our schools be available through grade 12. We can't afford free public college for all qualified students right now but it is not an unreasonable goal--at least for those who put education near the top of their life's values. I do. And so I feel less condemnatory towards parents who acquire huge college debt on their child's behalf.
Very few people are frugal about everything. Some overspend on clothes, some on food, some on cars, etc. Let's put this discussion in perspective and recognize that people who "overspend" on education shouldn't be condemned as much as more materialistic over-spenders.

They treasure education more than treasure. I think there are much worse sins of overspending.

Seriously??? I wouldn't overspend on education, a wedding, or even my kids braces, as a matter of fact the only thing I can think I would overspend on would be to keep them alive in a devastating accident. Education is a commodity and can be purchased and found a an affordable price......I'm a bargain shopper! I also don't accept what the college wants to give me, I negotiate with them and it works!

NPR has this following relevant article on their web site as of 2:00 p.m. Friday May the 25th:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/05/22/153316565/the-price-of-college-tuition-in-1-graphic

Carol, you hit the nail on the head! If you choose to put yourself in debt, you deserve to be in debt, nomatter what the reason. The fact is we justify whatever we choose to do and then complain. I disagree with some on this blog, as I have put 4 children through school. Education costs continue to skyrocket in an econonmy that cannot deliver. For every graduate like that of "Voice of Reason" where your child found a job paying 3 x the cost of education, there are hundreds, probably thousands who remain underwater for years. I have to believe that is EXTREMELy rare, based upon the fact that the average student graduates with $24,000 in debt. Education is and has become the second greatest burden on a family, next to owning a home. Those who wish to put themselves in severe debt, especially those with multiple children deserve what they get.

I appreciate the discussion...great points by all!

By law, Pennsylvania community colleges can only charge one third of their cost of business to tuition. That's one reason community college is such a great deal. But given the wrecking-ball mentality of our state budget slashers today, one has to ask: (a) what will the future look like for community colleges, and (b) what would happen if demand for their services increased hugely? I don't know the answer to either of those questions, but I'm not sure I'd like it.