Powerful Credentials.

• Author: Lynch, Michael W.
• Position: Going into debt for a college education - Brief Article

People worry a lot about the cost of college, Parents fret about paying the bills. Think-tank sages pull their chins and fret about rising tuition and levels of student debt. There's no question that college costs some serious dough. The College Board, makers of the SAT, estimate that tuition, room and board, and all other related expenses come to about $11,000 a year for students at in-state public colleges and almost $24,000 for private institutions. No wonder, then, that Americans gobbled up $37 billion in student loans last year.

But maybe all that expense and debt is worthwhile. How much a college education costs may be less important than how much a college education might be worth. Or, as the...