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When I started college in 1956, the tuition fees were $35 a semester, plus another $100 for out-of-state. The total for the whole year, room, meals, tuition, spending money, was around $1,000, and I could make half that in a summer job in a canning factory at a dollar an hour.
This story is just a symptom of a college system that is beyond the reach of poor and middle-class Americans.
When I went to college in the mid-70s, it was possible for a student to put themselves thru college via student loans and work-study programs. Yes, you graduated with $10,000 in student loans, but that amount was not a huge burden to pay off (not like student loan amounts today).
Today, since the federal government has dropped the ball on aid to colleges, it is physically impossible for a student to put themselves thru college - at least not without graduating with $100,000 or more in student loans.
We are putting two thru college - they go to a state university - and that is still a burden to afford. I have a third starting in another year.
I can sympathize with the economic despair of college-aged children today.
To me, it is another clear example of the upside-down priorities of this country.
We will gladly give massive tax breaks to the filthy rich, or waste 10-12 BILLION a month in Iraq, but not one red cent of support for college students.
How do we expect to compete in the world economy 10 years down the road if we are short-changing a generation of youth out of a college education???
I think the end result of all this short-sightedness will be a reduced standard of living for ALL Americans as the world outcompetes us in the global marketplace.
HubbleRules
I agree with much of what you said....BUT.......(there is always a BUT isn't there?)........Come on, now! Please! Call it what it is! There are many who cannot afford college and seem to be able to deal with it.
Why, when there are other options. How many American Billionaires got rich by "getting a job"? Serioiusly. How many people actually got very very rich working for somebody else (without an agent)?
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