Readers React: Tuition inflation: a 21st Century crisis

To the editor: The escalating cost of education is the crisis of the 21st century. While Germany has tuition-free universities, our government is digging a bigger hole for current and future generations to climb out of while reaping profits from student loans, which in turn fuels the tuition inflation we have been witnessing over the last two decades. (“Parents, too, could use a break on student loan debt,” Op-Ed, Oct. 24)

Since businesses are the biggest beneficiaries of our education system, it’s time for them to step up to the plate. Certainly our tax dollars can be better spent on subsidizing education in fields in which we have a huge shortage.

By providing virtually free tuition for fields relevant to our needs, we would invest in the future of our country.

John T. Chiu, Newport Beach

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To the editor: I certainly agree with Kerry Madden that the interest rate on college loans should be reduced for parents as well as for students. But parents need to be sensible about how they prepare their children for college choices.

First, giving children “the option of attending four-year colleges of their choosing” does not make sense for families who cannot afford this. As Madden herself describes, it is a huge sacrifice for most families to give children this choice, especially when there are more affordable options available.

Second, the only way to avoid making interest payments on college expenditures — and, in fact, on all expenditures — is to save for the expenditures well in advance. The monthly contributions are about the same whether parents set aside money for college prior to or subsequent to their children’s college years; they just save the interest payments if they do it earlier, and that makes sense.

Kathy Pezdek, Claremont

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To the editor: Life involves choices, and Madden, a University of Alabama faculty member, wants us to bail out her family.

After sending her daughter to Sarah Lawrence College (currently about $57,000 per year in tuition and other fees) and not Alabama (currently about $12,000 for in-state students), Madden now wants the student debt reform plan sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — which would increase taxes on “the rich” (heard that before?) to finance lower student loan interest rates — to pass.

When will people start taking responsibility for their decisions and stop seeking bailouts when their own poor choices have negative results?

Kevin Dretzka, Los Angeles

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