Sure it's a mark against you, but for many people in lower earning career paths, erasing 1-2x gross salary after attending a modestly priced college is well wor

Sure it's a mark against you, but for many people in lower earning career paths, erasing 1-2x gross salary after attending a modestly priced college is well worth it. E.g. A journalism student who earns 40k and had 40k of debt would need to pay $5,700/year, before interest, to have the loans paid off in 7 years. At 5% interest, $6,800/year. I think it'd be great to have institutions competing on price and taking steps to knock down the costs of attendance. There are also ideas around for people to pay a percentage of their earnings post-graduation, though the cynic in me says those will become just as predatory as the current lending structure. My university has built 3 dorms in the last 30 years, and all are suite style and ridiculously expensive. Despite earning little money, middle class college students want to maintain the same standard of living they grew up throughout college and first jobs. Yet another of the many challenges in the space.