The real problem with higher education

It’s well known that the student loan crisis has gotten out of control and continues to grow every second.

According to Business Insider, student debt has skyrocketed from $500 billion in 2006, just 9 years go, to over $1.3 trillion today.

Many people in government have proposed student loan forgiveness and other strategies to help reduce the overall debt, but according to Charles Hugh Smith, they’re focusing on the wrong issue.

The problem isn’t student loans–it’s the explosive rise in the costs of higher education.

Why college costs have risen so much

Higher education costs have risen 137% since 2000–greatly outpacing the rise in price of cars, homes and household goods.

A major reason for this rising cost, Smith writes, is the growth of administrators and other non-professor positions at universities.

According to the study Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses, as cited by the article, the ratio of nonacademic employees to faculty has doubled. There are now two nonacademic employees at public and two and a half at private universities and colleges for every one full-time, tenure-track member of the faculty.

That huge increase in administrators has caused colleges to raise their prices significantly to be able to pay these additional salaries and employee expenses.

As researcher Andrew Gillen puts it,

There’s just a mind-boggling amount of money per student that’s being spent on administration.

It raises a question of priorities.

Reducing the cost of college

We’re glad to see that people are finally starting to look at the actual universities and put the the onus on them to explain why they’re charging students such high prices and find ways to reduce them.

Unfortunately, however, some students still will end up choosing an expensive college and taking on enormous debt to pay for it.

And like the author says, forgiving student debt won’t solve the root of the problem, which is high college costs.

That’s why we steer families and students toward colleges that provide quality education at an affordable price and help them find ways to pay for it without taking on high debt.

If you’re interested in learning how we can help you reduce the cost of college, give us a call at 1-888-234-3907 or contact us using this form and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.