It is my view that the easy availibility of cheap student loans has fueled the incredible rise in tuition cost over the years
You ain't just whistlin' dixie. When I started at my current school, tuition was $5800 a semester for full-time enrollment (12-17 hours). Then it was $6900, then $7800, this year it's $8300. The rationale for this increase was not that they needed it, but that all the other private schools around were charging more, so they should too. I REALLY lucked out, and was able, every year, to secure additional scholarships that covered the increase. Most people weren't, and the class of '06 is shaping up to be the leanest graduation in the last 70 years. Only the depression caused lower attendance (and it's Oklahoma, so you know just how bad that must've been). Strangely, however, the higher price must have attracted a different income bracket, as the number of incoming freshmen has increased dramatically every year.
The system is headed for a crash, but it won't happen for awhile. We aren't to the red light and buzzer stage just yet, but anybody with a little math skill can figure out what's coming in 5-10 years. The cost will soon exceed what can be paid back in a reasonable time (say 10 to 15 years) at a decent rate ($500-800/mo.). The state schools are trying to stay reasonable (if you shop around, some of them are just dirt cheap), so they won't have a problem for quite some time, but the private schools will take it in the neck fairly soon.
To answer your question, Rabbi, you get your BA, and then you have enough brains to know that you need to be getting into your chosen field on the double. I started my career, in the IT field, after two years at an el-cheapo community college getting a pile of certifications. $450 a semester ain't bad for MCSE and CCNA. Then I got a job doing exactly what I trained for right on campus. A degree, certification, three years in a large environment, and the high praises of the entire department won't get me $250k, but I'm in better shape than anybody I know at school. Even if the job market in my field stays a little lean, which it isn't at all if you're willing to relocate just a bit, I'm still ahead of the curve (by a long shot), and I made sure to diversify my job experience a little bit. A little planning, and busting my butt to be the best employee they can imagine has already gotten me some surprisingly good job offers, and I still have a year to go. The head of my department has already offered to keep me on full-time when I graduate. If that doesn't work, there is always the army! Even if it does work, it's a serious consideration. They're already making offers that will make my student loans just go away. High grades, lots of IT experience (for my age), a large number of varied language classes (I'll graduate with 30 hours in Spanish, German, Japanese, Hebrew, and Greek), and a good additude has made me VERY attractive to them. Teach yourself Farsi from a tape, be able to speak it reasonably well, and DoD just goes bonkers over you.
It can be done, and the plan is really simple. It's just a matter of getting in there and
doing it, which is a skill that most people don't have. If tuition were cheap and money grew on trees, then every idiot could pull it off. I see the economic difficulties inherent in education to be an opportunity to prove that I'm better at it than the next guy.
