The NY Times has a great thread on their “Room for Debate” blog about the rising costs of college vs. the maximum amount of Pell Grant money available…grants that a large number of students use to make college attendance possible.

The disparity is striking:

Take a look at a better chart with more of the source material here.

The writers on “Room for Debate” differ (of course) in their take on whether or not more federal assistance is needed.  Richard Vedder, a professor and economist from Ohio University, posits that federal loans and grants are part of the reason why costs have risen…  His argument is interesting: As more grants and loans are available, colleges have raised tuition to capture more of the loan and grant funds in a reinforcing upward spiral.  His solution: focus on improving secondary education to enhance the number of students who are actually college-ready upon graduation from highschool…

Whatever the strategies for addressing this problem might be, the fact remains that if the US economy is going to return to health and remain the dominant force in the global marketplace, a wide swath of our workers will need higher education to be able to compete and drive innovation.  With costs spiraling ever higher, it remains to be seen whether or not we can collectively find a way to overcome these barriers and develop the knowledge-based economy that will be increasingly critical in the future.