Ideas to Repair the Rising Student Loan Crisis

It’s no secret that a college education isn’t cheap. But unless you are a college student (or the parent of one), you might not realize just how costly one can be.

When adjusted for inflation, the price of tuition has more than doubled since 1999, (source) with the end result being shocking amounts of debt being incurred by college students. It’s so bad that some colleges actually have higher default rates than graduation rates!

Is there a better way for students and parents to pay for college? Researchers have some ideas that are definite conversation starters:

• Re-routing funds: Professors at the University of Wisconsin in Madison are wondering what would happen if federal financial aid funds were given directly to colleges instead of students (read more).

• The Australian System: Professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and George Washington University propose something similar to a current Australian system in which the likely future income of the student helps decide the amount he or she may be able to borrow (read more).

• Increasing Pell Grants: The New America Foundation believes that if Pell Grants were given more to needier students, it would be better for the system (read more).

Someday, somehow … something must be done to alleviate the issue of rising student loans. For decades, the cost of a college education has gone up faster than incomes and inflation. This simply cannot be sustained.