To Get at College 'Value,' Report Looks at Student Debt and Degree Completion Together

The article To Get at College ‘Value,’ Report Looks at Student Debt and Degree Completion Together by Beckie Supiano discusses two hot topics regarding higher education. This article looks at the graduation rates along with the debt students acquire at public, private, and for-profit schools. The article looks at the value by examining the “borrowing-to-credential ratio.” The borrowing-to-credential ration is calculated by considering the amount of money borrowed in federal student loans by undergraduates and the student’s parents. That number is then divided by the number of credentials that the college has awarded in a particular year.
            I found this article interesting because it brought up some interesting facts. For-profit institutions had the highest borrowing-to-credential ratios followed by private four year institutions and finally public four year institutions. The surprising aspect of all this was how much higher the for profit schools numbers were. The average ratio that for-profit school had was $43,383 compared to $21,827 at private four year colleges. Public colleges had the lowest average ratio at $16,247. I had an idea that the for-profit schools were expensive, but these numbers are unacceptably larger considering these numbers are based on loans and credentials received. Students are going into debt without acquiring any sort of credentials. This is a drain on the economy and needs to be handled.  
            My favorite part of this article was the information regarding Princeton and other prestigious schools of their caliber. Princeton University had the lowest ratio at $2,385. What this number means is that the school has a high graduation rate, along with student most likely paying for tuition up-front or through scholarships. Princeton is a wealthy school which draws students from the upper class. These students are most likely able to pay for tuition without taking out any loans. Another way to see how the rich get richer and the people at a disadvantage are just that.