The whole system needs reform. As a moderate liberal I support the idea that everyone that wants to should somehow have the opportunity to go to college. (Though whether we should encourage everyone to go to college is a valid question)
The good intentions of guaranteeing loans for everyone have resulted in colleges racking up tuition way above inflation and students going further and further into debt. Sometimes with good intentions we actually cause more harm.
Top colleges (typically with wealthy/extremely smart/talented students) are sometimes tuition free due to their large endowments, which just recreates the cycle we were in before universal guaranteed federal loans-that only the rich could afford college. We’re literally heading back where we started, except now we’re all in debt.
Colleges are certainly partly (perhaps mostly?) to blame-they likely don’t need so many support staff (just like our profession) as administration staff far outnumber actual professors and have grown at a much higher rate. And students don’t need apartment style housing with single bedrooms, jacuzzis/etc. Traditional dormitories actually foster more interaction/dialogue and learning. If the dorm is too loud that’s what the library is for.
I get they do those things to attract students. It it’s literally a zero sum game if they all keep raising tuition to build more to attract more students.
