MONEY Magazine: Paying for college

MONEY Magazine: The squeeze: Paying for college - Apr. 22, 2006:

'Like many kids' milestones, I just can't believe how fast this moment came up,' Schwartz says sheepishly.

Here are the stark financial facts. Together, Dick, 55, and Shari, 52, earn $110,000 a year. So far they've saved less than $10,000 for Jake's education ($4,000 in mutual funds in the parents' names and $5,500 in a 529 account). Total annual expenses at his first choice, the University of Oregon at Eugene, will top $25,000. The shortfall over four years is an eye-popping $90,500.

The family is still waiting to hear whether Jake will qualify for any financial aid. But given their six-figure income, they're not holding their breath. And they're reluctant to borrow a ton to fill the gap.

'We don't want the angst of being saddled with so much debt,' says Dick.

Like many families, the Schwartzes are facing staggering college bills at just the moment they should be tackling another oversize financial challenge: saving for retirement.

There you have it, folks: why the US will always have H1B visas.

The problem is, there cannot possibly be so many college students with each generation. The lower earning potential, higher debt-load per family and rising tuition costs set by organizations out to make a profit vs provide an education means that there can only be less and less residents attending college at all. Quite simply, today's college grads are - either directly or indirectly - tomorrow's bankrupt parents with no college money for their own kids.

The US will, in a few generations, largely be unable to even supply its own educated professionals. It will need to, more than now, import more professionals to do any kind of work not possible by a tradesman.

I'd like to think that the overpopulation caused by the "Go forth and multiply" crowd will provide a valuable source of low-cost labour for the factories of tomorrow.