Letters: Drop in colleges’ state funding fuels student debt

John Norris smugly relates in Sunday’s paper (“Much debt unrelated to school expenses”) that he graduated from USC in the 1970s with no loan and no debt and goes on to blame parents, entitled children, developers and civic leaders for the increase in student loan debt at USC.

I suggest that Mr. Norris is out of touch with reality. I, too, graduated from a public state university in the 1970s with no debt. I paid about $700 per year for tuition and room. My alma mater is now charging $4,265 per semester.

State governments, especially in states with Republican governors and legislative majorities, have been slashing funding to universities for years, and these costs are inevitably passed along to students.

I’ve watched one child graduate with debt (but with a good job) and have another still in university.

Yes, some kids are irresponsible, and developers do follow the money. But it does not help to ignore the cuts in state funding to public tertiary education and instead blame students — most of whom are just trying to get a decent education, and many of whom work three jobs, shop at thrift stores and don’t eat at fancy restaurants.

This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 5:26 PM.