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One of the major problems is student loans. The availability has allowed colleges to increase the tuition much higher than inflation. And it is continuing so that it is almost impossible for a college education for the middle class to the poor. Don’t see any easy answer.

And this is the problem with government injecting itself into the college arena. The more government tries to "help", the more incentives there are for colleges to make use of this "help" to increase their tuition BEYOND the inflation rate.

But who the heck says that you need government to "aid" students to "afford" a good college education ?

Grove City College for instance, refuses government aid at all levels and still manages to charge only $17,500 a year in tuition plus board and lodgings ( much less than that after need or merit based aid which they offer PRIVATELY ). They are the most competitive Christian college in the nation and Princeton Review tells us that their career service is among the top 20 in the nation with fully 90% of their graduates finding good jobs within 6 months of graduation. And get this, their students TOP the Ivy league colleges in terms of Civics, History and Economics knowledge.

Schools like these prove that you don't need government to provide a good, solid college education.

Going back to college grads not being able to find jobs ( allegedly). Here are some factors to consider :

1) Your geographical location in this country. If you live in Detroit for instance, your chances of finding good job are worse than living in say, Silicon Valley.

Solution : BE PREPARED TO RELOCATE TO THE GROWTH AREAS.

2) Your salary expectation. Many graduates expect some sort of high salary as an entitlement for their 4 years of work in college and refuse some good entry level job that would have garnered them solid experience.

3) Your Degree. Other than teaching for instance, what does a graduate of English literature have to offer to the world of finance, technology, product development and engineering ? ( maybe creating interesting marketing brochures ?? ).

At any rate, I can't believe that we are hemoraghing all of our jobs overseas when our current unemployment rate is 4.7%. The jobs that go to China are the ones we don't even want to do (would you like a job that asks you to assemble toys ? ).