>>>I normally don't care much for Ann Coulter, but on this one she's spot on...
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>Disagree with most of the polemic, but certainly I agree with the idea of compulsory reporting re cost/benefit for each degree. Depending on how prospective psychologists respond to that, society then can decide whether it wants people to do psychology degrees at all and if so, whether salaries need to be higher or society needs to foot more of the bill or psychologists need to be put on a social pedestal and treated like rock stars for shouldering an 88-year obligation on behalf of society.
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>For the rest- check out the wealth of the Ivy League colleges. They have endowment funds into the tens of billions and growing strong while the average college endowment is well into the hundreds of millions. U-Penn has "only" $7B FWIW. Before long, maybe the only barrier will be actually to be accepted after which you get a free ride- which was how it was when I went to University, FWIW.

FWIW, most of the Ivy League (last I knew Brown was an exception), admission is need-blind; that is, they didn't look at your ability to pay as part of the admissions process. Plus, financial aid is need-based; they will meet demonstrated need. At least half of them (including UPenn, my alma mater) now use grants-only financial aid, as well. So while it's not quite a free ride--you are expected to pay some portion based on savings and family income, an Ivy or comparable can actually be cheaper than a state school.

Tamar