Contemplating College – Time for a Game Change…but for Debt, Costs…or Both?

Two interesting articles on the continuing crisis with the costs of college. That’s a lot of ‘c’s!

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/07/19/hope-college-matthew-scogin.html

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/07/01/is-it-fair-to-simply-write-off-college-debt.html

I’m a college graduate, and I took out loans to help pay for my costs in completing two majors in four years of private school. It took a few years after I finished my degrees, but they got paid back. I can say the same for my kids too, though in the latter case, it’s taking much, much longer. That’s the rub.

For many years I’ve opined to friends, family, co-workers and airplane seat-neighbors that the costs of post-secondary education are too high, rising too fast vs. inflation, and usually not justified in terms of net benefits received by students after graduation (nor their professors, typically, in terms of salary increases over time). I’ve railed that even with dramatically rising endowments of the wealthier schools tuition, fees and other costs keep soaring out of sight. What are we talking about? Profligate spending on ‘fluff stuff’, new layers of administrators and posh buildings, ancillary (but 'value-added') student programs and ‘the latest’ dorm upgrades by colleges and universities (to attract and keep 'the best' students.) All of this has been unfairly (and unsustainably) supported by government loan programs that allow students (and sometimes their parents, or both) to get far too far into debt very quickly – often with years and years of repayment ahead amid slowly rising salaries, that is, once/if they actually get a job post-college (yikes!)

I have lots of thoughts on how to address these issues – several alternative approaches or tweaks to traditional education, technical training, skilled trades, paid internships, remote instruction, expanded use/sharing of college buildings, community/world service, etc. I’ve conceived and refined (or thrown out after further reflection) many ideas on my own and read a bunch from others. Some – I might share in more depth in the future. Of course, the approaches and opinions of the experts in the articles enclosed above won’t gain universal agreement. But I hope they make you think, because the numbers on college costs and thousands (maybe millions) of graduates drowning in debt don’t lie. This isn’t an easy issue at all. It’s nuanced and fraught with complications and conflict no matter how you look at it. Especially if you truly value education and its quantifiable (?) and intangible benefits.

Here’s the question I have for all of us right now: Is it time, as others have suggested before and President Biden is now proposing, for a government ‘reset’ or forgiveness of student loan debt? Or should we be taking a hard look at the escalating costs of getting a college education (and why tuition, fees and living expenses at such schools are what they are, continually rising much faster than the standard cost of living with no end in sight)? Or both…and…What then? Should we start talking about, and taking serious, consistent, useful action towards applying the brakes or proposing significant reforms to our traditional US ‘undergrad for all who qualify’ post-high school education model?

Something has to be done. Like the stock market, post-secondary education costs can’t just keep going up forever without a corresponding return on investment for most who take part. As it is now, the wealthy can easily afford it, lower income students (but still not enough of them yet) often get their college costs covered, while the vast numbers pursuing a 4-year degree who come from families in the middle-income range are saddled with debt for years to come, with principal and interest due sometimes unforgivable even upon death!

Let's keep the conversation going. What would you do to fix the system, either incrementally or with bold, strong moves in one direction or another? I welcome your considered thoughts on this vexing issue.