[TimGebhardt]

I remember reading an article (can't find a link, it was the local paper) that highlighted that when my mom and dad when to college (1975) the average college student could pay approximately 44% of all their college costs by working part time and during the summer. That figure has dropped to 17% now, and that's why students are taking on more and more debt.

The problem is that colleges know that magic statistic that on average people with a college degree earn about 1 million dollars more than those without. So they can raise costs because it still pays to go to college and they're taking a bigger share of that future 1 million dollars in income.