This scam is pretty much Kaiser Soze. "How can you shoot the devil in the back?" No way in hell tuition will be lowered when the government provides so much in the way of subsidies or loans. When it comes to competing globally, the United States not only needs to get more students into college, but it also needs them to actually earn their diplomas...Despite improvements since the early 1990s, the US ranks 15th of 29 developed nations in terms of degrees granted: For every 100 students enrolled, countries such as Switzerland, Japan, and Australia award 26 degrees, compared with the 18 in the US. In fact, nearly half of American students at four-year colleges don't finish within six years, according to a report card released Wednesday by a higher-education policy group...Many students have to take remedial courses before they're ready for college-level work. Only about a third of such students persist beyond the remedial stage, the foundation estimates...Recent progress in college enrollment and completion could be threatened by the recession, which exacerbates longstanding concerns about affordability. In 2007, the average annual cost of a public four-year college equaled 55 percent of income for the lowest-income families...
Clearly the solution is to increase subsidies and make it easier for drop-outs to rack up mountains of debt. When the debt is defaulted on, Sallie Mae will pick up the tab (aka the taxpayer). That's why Bill Gross is in love with SLM bonds.
MIT to Increase Tuition 3.8%, Expands Financial Aid
Bloomberg -Feb 19, 2009
Bloomberg -
