It looks like tuition and room & board costs are starting to increase at a lower rate compared to recent historical data. According to the article below, it is still outpacing inflation rates/avg income, but the increase is the lowest in 4 decades. It is no surprise that something had to give as these costs seemed to grow exponentially each year, with fairly high interest rates (mine were 6.8%).
Personally, I took a very aggressive payment approach due to the high interest rates. I have been very fortunate, and I was able to pay off a small loan (~$30k) within a year. However, I know this is far from the norm. The average person must feel compelled to look for alternate routes outside of college because they simply cannot afford it. The ROI of University is pretty obvious to most people using this forum, but may not be obvious to the general public. Hopefully this trend of less aggressive jumps in college costs continues.
