Maybe you'll understand student loans one of these days, NYT

       The New York Times ventured again into the student loan abyss with a June 27th editorial, The Deal on Student Loans.  Basically, the Times used the editorial to fuss at congress for not figuring out sooner how to keep the current student loan interest rate at 3.4% instead of climbing back up to 6.8%.  Naturally, Republicans and Democrats had to bitch at each other until the 11th hour before finally figuring out how to do what needed to be done, and the loans will stay at 3.4% for another year and another D vs. R showdown.
       Fine - it's a grand thing that the student loan interest rate is staying at 3.4%.  Groovy.  Still not the real problem.  The real problem is that college costs WAY MORE than it used to.  College costs have grown much, much faster than inflation.  MUCHMUCHMUCHMUCHMUCH faster.  My alma mater (and again, I am very devoted) will cost current students, assuming they need to buy an occasional textbook or new pair of underpants, a quarter of a million dollars for 4 years.
       When will we say too much?  When will parents say, "You know what, I'm going to give my child a quarter of a million dollars to buy a Subway's Sandwiches franchise instead of sending him to college, and let's see how he compares to that philosophy major in 10 years."  I know that college graduates earn more money than those who are not college graduates.  But at some point, the financial drain of college will start to be more than the financial rewards of going to college.  At some point, college graduates will suffer buyer's remorse.  At some point, smart kids will stay out of college because it is honestly an intelligent decision to do so.  At some point, smart parents will convince their smart kids not to go to college because they are honestly making smart decisions.  That day would suck - and let's hope this trend can be stopped before we get there.
       As one NYTimes commenter calling himself E. T. Bass beautifully summed up the problem:

STILL MISSES MAIN POINT

Interest is one thing. C-o-s-t in the big deal. Until costs are restrained -- most of this is just useless.

C-o-s-t.