Soaring tuition pushes college out of reach

We have class warfare, when we win college will be free.

College should be free to all American who want to go.

Let there be private Universities who charge up the wazoo. But Community Colleges should be supported by the US and the education offered there should be free.

History will view the expansion access to higher education as a vital cog in America's ascendency to world leadership.

The decline in access will be viewed as a fundamental cause of her fall to mediocrity.

Education is supposed to be "Leave no child behind" , yet most Americans can not afford to put their child through college, without student loans or mortgages. I don't understand how we can give billions bailing out companies and not free education for our children to go to college. Remember our children one day will run this country and others will be at the mercy of trying to understand what politics is all about. Why not make education free to all children, even those with learning disabilities, they can learn a trade or something to help support themselves.

i go to an accelerated design school that puts you out with a bachelors of science in 21 months...after my living expenses and tuition, in less than 2 years i will be in the hole upwards of $100,000...i don't know if i am the only one...but i feel this is just ridiculous

This is utter bull crap, and I fear for the future of college education in the United States.

Vocational school is better for a career anyhow, with a few professions in exception. Pretty soon they will probably get specialty schools too.
But you still have fools like me with a ton of college and not much to do with it.

I graduated with around $20,000 debt in student loans due to not being able to get grant-based financial aid until I was 24 years old. I got a job that makes more money, but have to pay hundreds in student loan payments every month, so I am still pretty poor.

I was able to never get credit cards though. So, in ten years, I will be debt free as long as I keep up with my payments. Hopefully it will all pay off in the end.

I do not regret my education at all, though- even if I am broke- I feel rich with knowledge and experience.

I'm almost done with school and will be about $15,000 in debt with student loans. I keep wondering how the whole payment plan will work. Still my education so far has been great. I hope I never stop learning. I even plan on going back.

So, when all us, future intellects, realize we really are in over our heads with accrued debt,
can student loan companies get bailed out too?

Just looking ahead...

Just for an associates degree, im gonna be about 7500-8000 dollars in debt after this (just got the info in the mail yesterday). with the economy the way it is and the damaged job market, both my parents jobs are in jeopardy where they are at. So i will not put that all on them. Looks like my good credit wont be good for long.

Atleast it will give me more incentive to do well in my classes; considering what people have to do now days to get a good education!

It would be way better if we didn't have to pay for college.

Free public education was one of Thomas Jefferson's pillars of democracy. He started the University of Virginia to embody that belief...

I didn't go to school and made more money last year than both of my parents who have degrees. Not bashing any degree holders or students.

Student loan forgiveness should be the next bail out. How about rewarding all those individuals who were willing to gamble on improving their intellect, and in turn improving our nation.

Education for profit is emblematic of the toxic brand of unbridled US capitalism. I also can't help but feel that it is yet another way of ensuring that the rich stay rich. It's gotten to the point where only "they" can afford to send their kids to college. Not only do rich investors profit from excessive tuitions, they are the shameful forces behind the for-profit student loan programs. I could go on and on...aren't you sick and tired of being fleeced from every direction like I am?

Do I have to kiss my Psych. D. goodbye? I haven't even graduated with my bachelors yet!

college tuition is completely out of hand. This is just another example of the dissolution of the American dream. The middle class will be only a memory soon.

Miss, the way shits looking, kissing that pile wont get any easier. It's my firm belief that we are and organism that is eating itself to survive but that just my stand point.

Im only a sophomore and have about 15,000 in debt. This is ridiculous!!! I'm wondering if I should go to a much cheaper public college. Financing for college shouldn't get in the way of the college we want to go to.

Ya, it really does suck that the cost is going up but there's a few solutions.There's always community college. I took summer classes at one and it was $130 for a 3 hour class, that comes out to $5200 for a 4 year bachelors degree. It does suck that it cost so much for state colleges, but if you actually try hard and make good grades you WILL get a scholarship. There's also summer jobs to help, I made $5000 just working as a lifeguard.

I have a Ph.D. -- just graduated last year -- and make $42.5/yr with $166,000 of student loan debt. Yep, that's crazy. But with an $11 trillion national debt and most states going broke there's no way to make college free for everyone -- either you pay tuition out of your pocket through loans or you pay it out of your pocket through taxes. Either way, you pay it. What we really need to do is take seriously K-12 education, make it viable and useful, and quit relying on college to make up what we should have had in HS. Then we can scale back how many people really need to go to college.

Yes, we can all tighten our belts a little further, work a little harder, get less sleep and/or attend community colleges. However, the resumes with the Ivy League credentials will still end up on the top of the pile.

Yep, Ivy League grads will always be on the top of the pile, but for what jobs? Also, they tend to expect more and be less willing to do entry level work, so in some ways they disadvantage themselves. I've known Ivy League grads get turned down for teaching jobs at liberal arts schools because they can't communicate well with students and refuse to teach Freshman composition.