Bob Hildreth

Founder, Inversant

Predictions of more colleges closing are pressuring these higher education institutions to rethink their financial model. Ending reliance on student loans is a clear path forward.

To Help Students, And Themselves, Colleges Need To Cut Student Loans

Commentary

Boston

Education

News

Beacon Hill knows that years of decreasing state aid to UMass have merely shifted the cost of education to the federal government, which has compensated by lending more.

UMass Is Under Intolerable Financial Pressure. Let’s Work Together To Relieve It.

Even as state aid has languished, the UMass system has embarked on a building spree. Pictured here: The Integrated Sciences Complex at UMass Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

The Integrated Sciences Complex at UMass Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Opinion

As long as colleges keep tuition increases below 5 percent, the Department of Education will not protest. The result is that top colleges raise tuition each year between 3 and 4 percent. One decade more of these increases will produce a $100,000 annual tuition!

Top colleges set prices similar to oligopolies. There is no direct collusion but the intent to price their product close to each other to avoid competition.

To Bring College Costs Down, Dismantle The Higher Ed Oligopoly

Pictured here: Students walk by a Boston University sign on Commonwealth Ave. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

college tuition

Unfortunately, the vast majority of high-achieving, low-income students do not apply to selective colleges or universities.

To remedy this situation, parents should be exposed to well-designed college access education instruction.

Debunking The 'No Point In Applying' Mentality For Low-Income Students

Mario Rodas of Chelsea, Mass., poses at one of the gates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. on Nov. 2, 2009. As an undocumented Guatemalan-born immigrant, Rodas would have had to pay out-of-state tuition fees to go to a public college in Massachusetts. Rodas has since been granted asylum in the U.S. and studies at the Harvard University Extension School which has one tuition rate for all students. (Charles Krupa/AP)

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What &#039;Free Community College&#039; Means — And What It Could Cost

The 'free' in free tuition offered by the President will amount to $3,500 on top of existing government grants of $8,500. That adds up to $12,000, which leaves the typical community college student a good deal short.

$25 A Month: Closing The Community College Tuition Gap, Even If It's 'Free'

President Barack Obama speaks at Pellissippi State Community College, Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, in Knoxville, Tenn., about new initiatives to help more Americans go to college and get the skills they need to succeed. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

HILDRETH-Community-College-Banner

Economy

Life

family

policy

If the government wants to pivot from student loans to family savings, it is going to have to meet savers where they are and help them see not only the benefit of a college education, but also a path to making that a reality.

Student Loans Aren't The Only Way To Pay For College

We can make college accessible for low-income Americans by helping them save, instead of encouraging them to borrow. (SalFalko/flickr)

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Presidents of Amherst College, Bunker Hill Talk College Affordability

Obama’s College Access Plans Will Only Work For Ambitious Students

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama shake hands with college graduate Troy Simon, who couldn't read until he was 14. The president spoke about college opportunities in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across from the White House on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014. (Charles Dharapak/AP)

Bob Hildreth

Recently published

To Help Students, And Themselves, Colleges Need To Cut Student Loans

Local Coverage

UMass Is Under Intolerable Financial Pressure. Let’s Work Together To Relieve It.

Local Coverage

To Bring College Costs Down, Dismantle The Higher Ed Oligopoly

Cognoscenti

Debunking The 'No Point In Applying' Mentality For Low-Income Students

Cognoscenti

$25 A Month: Closing The Community College Tuition Gap, Even If It's 'Free'

Cognoscenti

Student Loans Aren't The Only Way To Pay For College

Cognoscenti

Obama’s College Access Plans Will Only Work For Ambitious Students

Cognoscenti