I personally find it absurd the way college costs are dealt with. College costs are skyrocketing and federal aid is nowhere near enough to cover the costs of college leaving many having to look for private loans for sometimes more than $20,000 for just one year of schooling! But the real kicker for me is the way students are expected to obtain private loans of such substantial amounts. While it is true many students have some college fund set aside or have a "credit-worthy cosigner" which can co-sign a loan with the student, but there are also plenty of students without access to these things.

Very few if any high school seniors have a credit history well enough established in which they might be able to obtain student loans from private lenders, leaving them stuck having to have someone borrow money for them or co-sign with them. The trouble is there are students with no access to a credit-worthy cosigner who simply are turned down for loans and can't afford college. I know one such person in this very situation, where his paycheck goes to help pay for bills, and him trying to secure a student loan at just 18 with no credit history and no money saved. While some might suggest the military as a means to pay for college, I think it is ridiculous for one to need to essentially need to sell themselves to become more EDUCATED.

This leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth because it essentially falls down to the parents of a child determining his or her future, as college plays an important role, especially in today's world where college education is essentially mandatory. Shouldn't every individual have the opportunity to receive a higher education if he or she so desires? I mean, it is one thing for those of different social classes to have different, say, clothing, one Walmart brand and another Abercrombie, but for social class to be such a division in EDUCATION and thus in the outcome of the rest of one's life, I think that is ridiculous. More needs to be done to guarantee each person a chance to guide their own life where it may go, not for it to fall into their parents' hands as they are the only ones with credit scores good enough to get loans.

How do you feel about this? Any ideas on what can be done? Should the government guarantee students loans enough to pay for all of the costs of schooling? Aren't well educated people the best resource the country can use in order to better itself? Why let those in poverty be forced to remain in poverty because they can't afford schooling?

In my opinion the system is working as it was intended to. The price of a higher education is so expensive as to keep minorities and the lower class at the bottom of the barrel.

It's pretty sad that profits are more important than educating our youth. The credit card company's and banks are scammers at best and there is no better way to leech money from a person than to have them 60 to 100 thousand dollars in debt before they reach their mid twentys.

I recently graduated and without the help of my parents and student loans there is no way i could have gotten a higher education with the cost of tuition at $15,00 per year ( In state Discount), $5,000 a year for housing and food, and even more cash with the outrageous price of textbooks.

After all was said and done I have the privilege of sitting in a cublicle for the next 20 years so that I can support myself and pay back my loans with insane interest.

I think this problem is in fact part of a bigger problem of parents not being able to afford the kids they have. Parents are expected to provide food, shelter, transportation, etc. But some parents are unable to provide luxury items such as toys, participation in organized sports, and I think college is one of these luxury items. If a parent wants to provide the best possible future for their child, this requires an investment of time and lots of money. Otherwise, the child won't have as great a likelihood of achieving success.

I personally don't believe that the government should pay for people's higher education. I believe this has been one of the driving factors in the exponential rise in education costs. Schools know the government is footing the bill so they raise tuition to whatever they feel like. If people were forced to pay their own way, attendance would drop and more schools would be forced to price themselves competitively.

No one in poverty who is able bodied and able minded is forced to remain so. College/University education is hardly the only path to success. Today, people would be smarter to learn a trade - the cost of which is a fraction of college and cannot be outsourced the way an office job can.

You pay for College ?

America then. I live in UK, i got college free and i got transport there free, and free meals, and about 1,000 pounds worth of materials free so that i could do a personal project on my subject so that i could improve my own skills. UK pretty much rocks when it comes to college.

Fox

College in the states is about profit now, just like everything else. Some private schools profit hundreds of thousands of dollars a semester, and the quality of the classroom is still declining.

The solution? Cheap state schools. I finished at Temple U with a little less than 20,000 owed collectively, and I am still in the hole big time.

With the inability to find jobs due to the economy, we may end up being the poorest generation ever. We owe so much and make so little.

Originally posted by SantaClaus
College in the states is about profit now, just like everything else. Some private schools profit hundreds of thousands of dollars a semester, and the quality of the classroom is still declining.

The solution? Cheap state schools. I finished at Temple U with a little less than 20,000 owed collectively, and I am still in the hole big time.

With the inability to find jobs due to the economy, we may end up being the poorest generation ever. We owe so much and make so little.

That's because college is a total scam. Even the army doesn't have such adamant recruiters as college; guidance counselors put any army recruiter to shame. I wonder how much they get paid when they get someone to apply to a university that's too expensive to study something they'll never use and borrow money just to do it.

Even state schools stopped being cheap years ago. The funny thing is, I don't think a degree from your local state school carries any less weight than a nationally recognized school unless you're in a highly specialized field. Even then it doesn't seem to matter - they just want to make sure you paid your dues.