I’m not one to ask for help from anyone. That being said… I wish the candidates would address the issue of the rising cost of college tuition. We were prepared to pay a big chunk of the upcoming college tuition costs, which is now in jeopardy. I doubt we’re alone in this issue. I just can’t imagine graduating from college with one or two hundred thousand in debt. Heck U of I is around $115,000 for 4 years!

Too bad I spent all this time saving for my kid’s future. I could have bought a giant house with a crappy mortgage and the Feds would bail me out.

This is a big issue for us - not only costs, but available loans. We're in year 2 of the first one in school, but we're very worried about next year when we fill out the FAFSA for two students in college. If the credit crunch continues or worsens, will we be able to get the loans we need?

That's my main concern right now, frankly.

Scribbler, believe it or not the availability of loans is a big reason college costs have skyrocketed the past decade.

College costs gone crazy:
Go nuts, because many parents will mortgage their own future to pay for their child's college.

The best way to pay for all the "fat" in college budgets was to make funds easily available to kids and their parents that will borrow as much as needed to get a chance for a degree.

I would love to see colleges have to compete more on price/value.

Imagine what would happen to demand at 4 year school's if loans did not exist or were hard to get. Only the wealthy could afford to go and that wouldn't be nearly enough students to pay for all the wasted money at a typical college. They would be forced to cut lots of fat so they could lower prices and attract more students.

This is one area where I tend to be liberal-the government paying the majority of college costs. We spend billions to bail out amoral corporate weasels, yet the average family goes heavily into debt to get their children an education. Educating our children is an investment in the future. I willing to bank on your kids curing cancer, fighting world hunger and developing holographic TV's.

I would propose that every child who completes HS with at least a 2.5 grade average (sorry Noonan, the world needs ditch diggers)is eligible to go to a state college for a minimum of two years 100% paid for by the government. If a child has a higher GPA and met the admissions standards, they would be eligible for better schools, still 100% paid for by the government. After 2 years, if they have maintained a 3.0 average, they would be eligible for the remaining two years with 80% paid for by the government. Graduate with a 3.5 or higher and you are eligible to go to Grad school with the government paying 50%.

I would feel much better giving trillions of dollars to education than companies like AIG or Lehman.

You are right Grateful, but this kind of change takes time. I can't believe I used the "C" word. Anyway, I do feel for the families facing college loans in the next year.

A college graduate will on average make more than 1M during his or her lifetime versus say someone who doesn't . So its a good personal investment.
So why should the government help you. Maybe the question you should be asking is why college tuition has grown faster than inflation year after year. Maybe you should ask about million dollar contract for football and basketball coaches. Or six figure salaries for professors who only teach a couple of courses. Maybe you should ask about colleges with multi-billion endowments and what they do with them. Or why universities need million dollar fitness centers etc. Or million dollar salaries for chancellors etc .

This is not about college costs but I thought this article was interesting:
What you will pay under each candidate's tax plan.

Now, back to the topic at hand. Honestly, college costs are so complicated that it's difficult to even begin to answer the question as to why college costs so much more. But I will say this: Taxpayer mentions million dollar fitness centers and what-not. The reality is that colleges are trying to compete to get good students. More often than not, good students are the ones with money. In order to attract the good students who have money, they put in things like million dollar fitness centers and high-end food courts. Our kids are spoiled and look for every "perk" they can in a college. It makes a difference in what they like. I can't tell you how many kids have come back from a number of our state univerisites (which cost less, other than U of I) and tell me that they would never go there because it's a dump! Guess what? My college had some dumpiness too. I didn't expect it to be all perfect. Our kids do and it's our own fault.

Your intention is an honerable one Yoss, but remember the government has NO Money of its own.
It is using our money to pay for things. So we taxpayers (the 60% of us wage earners that pay) would be paying for every kid's costs with no restraints on how much more we would be taxed to pay for it.

Why not encourage more online college courses to be taken and easily transferred to four year schools as an alternative. Or kids can view lectures from their computers (using the replay botton when needed) at a much cheaper price than actually enrolling at a university.

Unnecessary, repetitive and redundant quote removed. --Ted E.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ted E.,