[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...