Is college no longer affordable?

This from H-L:

The Price of Higher education

Without financial aid, Jonathan Curry describes his chance of attending the University of Kentucky in a single word. ”Impossible,“ said the senior from Henderson. ”I wouldn't be here at all.“

With the help of federal, state and UK scholarships, Curry is on schedule to graduate next spring.

Still, college has hardly been free from struggle. He works 15 to 20 hours a week taking tickets at Comedy Off Broadway, and donates blood plasma as often as twice a week.

”Sometimes I need groceries, and I have $5,“ he said.

His mother, Cynthia Curry, works two jobs and they still don't have enough to cover college bills. So on top of the $10,000 he has already borrowed, he expects to take out $16,000 more in loans this year.

”It's more and more debt,“ he said. ”There's something wrong somewhere.“

What's wrong is that the cost of a college education has mushroomed in Kentucky over the past decade.

Meanwhile, the state has more than doubled the amount it spends on financial aid programs, but that doesn't offset the increasing costs.

This summer, the Kentucky General Assembly's Joint Interim Committee on education has begun a series of meetings that lawmakers hope will come up with some solutions by the time they reconvene during the regular session in January 2009.

There are no easy — or cheap — answers...