Picture this: An eager 18-year-old heads to a car lot in search of his first set of wheels.

He sees a moderately priced used car that has low mileage and is in good condition. It’s a steal at $10,000. Heading into the dealership’s business office, he’s practically giddy.

With nothing to put down, he sits down in a chair and asks to finance the entire cost.

Much to his chagrin, he’s laughed out of the office.

Now picture a different scenario involving the same eager 18-year-old: After hours of research, he settles on the college he’d like to attend. As with the car, he doesn’t have the funds to pay outright for his four-year education. He fills out the federal student-aid form and the federal government hands over what he needs to get that degree.

Four years later, he’s starting his working adult life nearly $40K in the hole.

How will he ever get ahead?

According to the nonprofit Education Data Initiative, the average borrower in Pennsylvania leaves school owing almost $37,000.

That’s a damning amount of debt when inflation hasn’t kept pace with the ballooning cost of higher education.

As EDI noted, “In the 21st century, the rising costs of college have outpaced the rate of inflation by an average of 104.3% and by as much as 2,217%.”

With that as a backdrop, here are some numbers from EDI related to the cost of tuition and fees only (housing, food and books are not included): In 2022-23, one year at a four-year public school was $9,750. The cost of a four-year private school education was $35,248. In 1972-73, those costs were $503 yearly at a public college or university and $1,948 yearly at a private one.

Over that 50-year span, public school tuition rose 181%; private school tuition rose 179%.

Compare that to these jaw-dropping numbers from the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Accounting for inflation, over that same 50-year span, a year’s salary in 1972 was $55,797.25. It was $72,934.44 in 2002.

The percentage difference: 26.6%

Moving the staggering debts from students onto taxpayers, in a nation already carrying a national debt of more than $36 trillion, is not the answer. But at some point, the bottom is going to fall out of higher education. How can it not?

Higher education used to be a way to get ahead. Now, for far too many college graduates, it’s a way to start out behind. All students, especially those like that 18-year-old, deserve better.

— Williamsport Sun-Gazette