The College Bubble

Kathy Kristof, at Forbes, claims there is:

...an unfolding education hoax on the middle class that's just as insidious, and nearly as sweeping, as the housing debacle. The ingredients are strikingly similar, too: Misguided easy-money policies that are encouraging the masses to go into debt; a self-serving establishment trading in half-truths that exaggerate the value of its product; plus a Wall Street money machine dabbling in outright fraud as it foists unaffordable debt on the most vulnerable marks.

Whole thing here. And the easy access to credit, coupled with the deplorable idea that the federal government should assist students with their tuition obligations, have directly contributed to the exponential increase in the cost of 'higher education.' Is a Harvard bachelor's degree really worth $130,000 (a four-year estimate as of 2008) or is the Board of Trustees simply pricing out the lower three-quarters?