Re: Should college be debt-free?, March 20 point-counterpoint columns.
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I applaud Olivia Alperstein ( Yes: The financial burden is cruel ) for finding a way to go to college and graduate with a low debt burden. She used the tools available to attend Wesleyan University for $12,000. In her arguments for college to be debt-free, she implies the system unfairly burdens low- and middle-income students. But she misses many points, including the false allure of Ivy League schools. Per US News & World Report, Wesleyan costs $48,974 for tuition and fees for 2015-16 — compared to the University of Colorado at $11,091. Based on the costs and the financial aid she received to attend Wesleyan, she and three of her buddies could have attended CU. And I would also argue that the quality of education is equal at both colleges.
Alperstein complains that the over-competitive job market cannot support her generation of graduates, let alone allow them to pay off their college debt, but she missed the economics lesson on supply and demand — just because you have a degree in, say, sub-Saharan ancient languages does not mean you can get a paying job in that field.
Mark Cutright, Aurora
This letter was published in the March 27 edition.
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