College Student Andy Kroll examines the continuing increase in financial burden for those pursuing higher education:

In the past several decades, the cost of higher education has climbed at an astounding pace — faster than the Consumer Price Index, faster even than the cost of medical care. Over the past 30 years, the average annual cost of college tuition, fees, and room and board has increased nearly 100 percent, from $7,857 in 1977-78 to $15,665 in 2007-08 (in constant 2006-07 dollars). Median household income, on the other hand, has risen a mere 18 percent over that same period, from about $42,500 to just over $50,000. College costs, in other words, have gone up at more than five times the rate of income.

So how did the cost of a college education become so expensive? Kroll points to access, or the shift from grants to loans in federal funding of higher education. He argues for making college more affordable again by reversing this shift and making more aid available. Huh?!!! He fails to look into what has caused this 100 percent increase in the cost of college tuition, fees, room and board? Therein lies the root of the problem. It was not the inability to pay for more that caused the cost of higher education to skyrocket. In my humble opinion, the responsibility would rest with college trustees, presidents, and maybe even some athletic directors. Blaming the lack of financial aid, or more accurately, the right type of financial aid, misses the big part of the problem.

Resources: “Measuring Up 2008: The National Report Card on Higher Education” by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.