As we all know, US higher education is ridiculously expensive, with many students having $150,000 in debts after graduation.

 

How would you fix it and should Americans try to?

Regulation and subsidy seem the only viable answer. Obama's suggestion of offering community college at no fee for the first two years strikes me as a good first step, too.

 

We cannot sacrifice our ability to innovate and compete globally and allow education to become yet another social space where benefits flow only to the privileged and fortunate few.

Regulation and subsidy seem the only viable answer. Obama's suggestion of offering community college at no fee for the first two years strikes me as a good first step, too.

 

We cannot sacrifice our ability to innovate and compete globally and allow education to become yet another social space where benefits flow only to the privileged and fortunate few.

 

I agree. As a student in high school, I hate how expensive school is. My parents told me that I would have to pay for school on my own if I wanted to go(which I do) My dad told me he would rather buy a house then send me to school actually, which does suck. I am just trying to get all the scholarships I can... Then I have kids that I hate and probably don't even deserve to go to school, and they are rich and they are always joking about going there for the social experience and to party. With me, I'm going to get my penny's worth when I go to school. Hopefully, we will become a more evolved society with school and eventually we'll get to the point where school isn't as overpriced as it is.

It should be noted that the cost does not only cover tuition itself, but also provides a lot of things that are generally absent in German, and some other countries in the Euro-zone (I do not know all of them, though). This includes e.g. basic health services, numerous counseling and guidance as well as many more non-faculty teachers (i.e. instructors, TA). In Germany there are barely office hours, for example.

This all comes with an added administrative overhead cost.

 

That being said, most faculty I know would prefer to have the cost come down and be available to everyone independent on income (but then maybe with added selection). To this end one would need more funding via taxes and cut down on fluff (and emphasize self-study instead...).

 

I would be interested on details on the actual cost of that, but most budgets that I happened to come across are not itemized enough for that.