Yes. This article makes the ridiculous error of totally ignoring the fact that trivial access to loans and overall exuberance around college creates NO downwar

Yes. This article makes the ridiculous error of totally ignoring the fact that trivial access to loans and overall exuberance around college creates NO downward pressure on prices. So long as people are willing to pay almost anything and have access to the money to do so, prices will continue to rise. In my opinion, the "spiral" is largely the fault of excess government subsidization and price insensitivity. College is sold as a magic ticket into the upper class, and most people simply will never question this assumption. Ending the flood of government money will force people to actually question the value of education and, as many people are priced out of the market, will hopefully lead to a rise in more efficient means of education like apprenticeships and cc. That said, the article MASSIVELY distorts the extent of the spiral because it focuses on sticker price and not on net price. Evidently, the author doesn't realize that sticker prices are so high because colleges price discriminate. Very few people pay anything close to the listed price for college. For public colleges, the average net price is one third of the list price. For privates, the percentage is higher, but that's just because wealthy people are overrepresented at private colleges. Even then, the average net price isn't even close to the list price. For example, I attend an "elite" private school. Although the sticker price at most of these schools is between $60,000 and $70,000 a year, massive grants are given to students that mitigate most if not all of the cost. I come from a family with slightly above-average income (but still decidedly middle class) and get a $50,000 grant from my school. I have a friend who is also middle class who is being given a full ride. So, although this article makes a few fair points, it ignores the root of the problem and fundamentally misinterprets the data.