Higher Education: The Evidence Keeps Pouring In

Jillian Bandes | March 09, 2010 9:51 AM

In last month's issue of Townhall Magazine, I wrote a short piece chronicling the higher education bubble -- when the cost of college begins to outweigh its benefits.

Tim Cavanaugh has the latest on this trend, as he examines the most recent student aid report from the College Board. The outlook is dismal:

Student loan defaults are up. Graduate performance in the job market is down. Bankrupt states are unable to keep public university employees in the style to which they've grown accustomed...

Yet for-profit colleges are booming, and their students are pulling down ever greater sums in federal grants and guaranteed loans.

The higher ed bubble is undoubtedly reaching its breaking point because of the economy, but as Cavanaugh points out, faulty education policy is even more responsible for the problem. In his words, "Uncle Sam is the inflationist in chief."