[brianlweiner]

They should go to their state's public university, where the tuition is much lower. US average is still under $10k. http://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-table...

If that number is still too high they should earn credits at a community college and transfer into the state university after their Sophomore year.

I get incredibly frustrated when you have people complaining after they chose to forgo their own state's perfectly decent university to go to another state's. You get practically the same education for 5x the price.

[secstate]

First off, it totally depends on the state. Small rural states, like in most things, get completely screwed on this metric, as Wisconsin and UMaine do not even begin to offer the same education, depending on your desired career path. That and the small states are also on the whole the more expensive schools, too.

I'm sure there are arguments to be made about just getting out of small states, but rarely are such simple-minded solutions useful for issues like this.

Personally, I think loans are a red herring. I think it's an arms-race between academic institutions and increasing tuition [0]. Adjusted for inflation, even the so-called affordable state schools have increased 14% over the past five years. Private schools actually went up less, when adjusted for inflation, but I'll let you RTFA.

The only glimmer of hope is that state schools have almost kept up with inflation for the past three years, and if the trend continues tuition might STABILZE for the next few years at roughly 25% more than it cost to earn a degree 30 years ago. Seriously, what the fuck?! How do you account for that?

[0] http://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-table...

[jazzyk]

True, but you excluded housing/food costs. On-campus housing is typically required for the first 2 years. Even off-campus, you have to sleep somewhere and eat.

So add another $10K to your number.