LETTER: Rising tuition costs continue thanks to student tolerance

I was disappointed after reading Monday's articles on the increasing tuition costs.

Justifying the changes in education costs as a result of new technology and lack of state funding neglects some important economic discussion.

A true "Econ 101" approach to the subject would ask, "What allows tuition costs to rise each year?" The answer is simple. Our willingness to pay for it does.

Prices can't increase if the consumers don't want to pay more.

So now we have to ask, "Why are we willing to pay more?"

There may have been some changes over time in factors like people's value of an education, but I think it's fair to say that cheap federal loans and financial aid play a strong role in student's ability and desire to pay for an education.

I'm certain that attendance would suffer significantly if the government were to stop offering the type of loans that private investors would be foolish to make.

At that point, colleges wouldn't just shut down from loss of income.

They would cut prices to a truly affordable level to retain the same attendance rates and stay competitive.

Andy Liesveld

Junior Mechanical Engineering Major.