With colleges at risk of closure, applicants should ask these 5 questions | Opinion
Updated Dec 16, 2020;
By Joseph J. O’Brien Jr.
I recently took part in online presentation by the editors of Inside Higher Education, a prominent journal reporting on all things in higher education. The purpose of the presentation was to advise college representatives how to make college affordable. There were no clear answers.
While tuition rates at public four-year colleges and private colleges have had the lowest percentage increase in 30 years and the average sticker price for community colleges has been frozen in 14 states and many local districts, the fact remains that this is not what parents and students believe to be the case. Their perception is based primarily on reporting in the media that focuses on the extreme cases of graduates carrying $75,000-$100,000 of student loan debt while being unable to find a good paying job. In fact, the average student loan debt is $32,731 (as of the