1. Tuition prices have increase twice as fast as actual costs per student at public four-year schools in 1990. The simple reason for the price increases have been because the market could bear it. Enrollment in 1970, increased from 7 million to 14 million in 2002, while total population of young people barely budged from 36-39 million.

2. Even as the number of students enrolling in college has increase, the number of seats number available barely increased since 1960. More students were enrolling and paying for the privilege.

3. Clinton raise loan maximums for student loans. From 1992-1994, federal student loan borrowing climbed by 50 percent. More students were enrolling, getting into debt, dropping out before graduation, and repaying student loans for numerous decades.

4. In 1972, President Nixon established the Sallie Mae, the Student Loan Market Association, a secondary market for student loans, buying and selling the portfolios of private lenders. In 2004,. SLMA made billions in profits.

5. Private loans, marketed by big national banks and trusted student loan providers, including Sallie Mae, are not much better than putting your tuition on a credit card. The private loans do not offer deferment, no grace period, and fewer repayment options. The volume of these loans increased from $1.1 billion in 1995-96 to $15 billion in 2005. From 1999-2000 the average private student loans owed $6,206. 40% of Sallie Mae’s loans came from private loans.

6. As of 2002, the graduate student debt burden averaged about $24,000 for a master degree holder and $100,000 plus for law and medical students. Loan debt among grad students increased seven times faster than undergraduate debt in the 1990s. Grad students average credit card debt in 2000 was $7,831. An English Phd in 2003 had a 25 percent chance of coming out with a tenure track job and a 50 percent chance of dropping out.