Degrees of debt: Soaring college costs hobble a generation

[exboyfil]

14. I would like to see a copy of the letter from Drexel (is it posted anywhere?)

to make up my own mind on how deceptive it is. When I borrowed I remember seeing an amortization schedule. I was ticked off about the 1% origination fee which did not come up until I was prepared to sign the papers (it is amazing how many times lenders pull this crap). Maybe I did not see it in the initial disclosures (I was 19 at the time).

We should be teaching this stuff in High Schools. I am not sure what my daughter's High School does because we have not gotten to that point yet, and she is not taking any sort of Economics through them (she is doing it online instead). Financial aid letters should be in two parts - scholarships and grants and then loans. They should never be combined. I know the universities are fighting it (as they would since alot of them are not offering sufficient pay back on their degrees so they will lose students).

I do not know how Ohio State can call itself a public university anymore. It only gets 7% of its funds from the state? I have heard that University of Virginia is also thinking that way.

Every student who is borrowing should see an amortization schedule at the very least.

Things are going to get really ugly going forward. At least in our state the universities have been forced to offer guaranteed four year degrees (you take all your classes on time and pass, you will graduate in four years). You will never be shut out of a class in the four year schedule. That combined with the push for decent articulation agreements with the community colleges may mean less time paying students will be at the universities. I know my older daughter is planning ot make full use of community college while in High School. The universities are already starting to chip at the edges by requiring students to pass additional math tests even though they have community college credit. Their recognition of AP is also very poor. Most exclusive private colleges won't even look at community college credit (I think private colleges are a fool's game myself). I was going to have my daughter take a flyer at the University of Chicago - since they will not honor her online community college credit - I told her not to bother.

Our state schools are already charging over 20% more in tuition for engineering, nursing, and business majors. That trend is just going to accelerate.