SMU Panel to Discuss Rising Student Debt
A lunchtime panel Friday at SMU will shed light on the country’s student-loan debt crisis, and ponder ways to go about fixing it. The event begins at noon in Simmons Hall.
“Americans are less able to afford college today than they were a decade ago, and this condition has helped increase loan indebtedness,” discussion moderator and professor/associate dean Michael McClendon said in a press release. “There are concrete steps, however, that students and their families, colleges and universities, states and communities can take to lessen these problems.”
I’m all ears. Or would be, if I could afford a pair.
Seriously, “concrete steps…. to lesson the problem.”
What are those? My daughter is a senior at the hilltop and the tuition and fees alone are $41,750. That doesn’t include room, board, insurance, etc., etc. How about they drop the tuition rate to the povertly level for a family of four?
For example, the poverty level for 2012 was set at $23,050 (total yearly income) for a family of four. Following that guideline SMU’s tuition could support a family of 7 for one year. Come on. Pony Up stands for pony up the tuition or go somewhere else.
Yes, BUT, then SMU wuold have to raise, what, 900 BILLION dollars in their next capital campaign just to keep the doors open! Why is it that colleges are nearly completely insulated from market forces?
You know, I have one at TCU too (thank the Lord has a bit of a scholarhip) and their tution and fees are $34,340. Thats $76,340 in tuition and fees, not including room, board, insurance, car insurance, etc. for 2 kids in college. At least one of them has a 4.0. Go FROGS!
Send your kid to TCU for 305,360.00 so she can be a 3rd grade teacher. She gets a job at Hyer, UP, etc making 40,000.00 a year. To far out of balance.