"If you’re reading this, 'college' may connote a very expensive, four-year residential institution where one comes of age, acquires what one hopes will become an impressive lifelong credential and a network of useful friends, and learns at least something of the liberal arts," Nicholas Lemann writes in an opinion piece for The New Yorker.
"Because élites have a thumb on the scale of public discourse, discussions of student debt too often assume that it’s acquired at private liberal-arts institutions. In fact, the main drivers of student debt—which has recently risen to the attention-getting sum of a trillion dollars—are the rapid growth of for-profit, mostly online education institutions, where ninety per cent of students take on debt, completion rates are low, and default rates are high; substantial cuts by state legislatures in their support for public universities; and the stubborn fact that, for most people, going to college continues to pay off economically, effectively doubling lifetime earnings. ...
If people choose to exit from the higher-cost model rather than to stay and complain, then 'college,' notionally, will become more like the actual colleges that most American students attend. There’s something to be said, then, for complaining about rising costs at this small fraction of institutions: it’s emotionally satisfying, and it preserves a small and valuable part of the system."
NASFAA's "Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.
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