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Re: “Higher education’s unsustainable, inexorable rise,” April 11 Megan Schrader column.

Megan Schrader suggests the problem of soaring college debt should be solved by 18-year-old students. I suggest the problem should be solved by the adults in the state legislature and the adults who elected them.

State support of higher education is dwindling and is close to zero. Our lawmakers, like Schrader, have reduced higher education to hard-dollar calculations. Those who benefit from degrees should pay for them and should expect 15 percent return on their investment.

When I graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1977, I left with $3,000 in debt, thanks to work-study, grants and generous state funding. I humbly submit that the Colorado taxpayers of the ’70s have gotten more than their investment back, as I have been an employed, taxpaying contributor to our community ever since.

When I step onto the Auraria campus these days and join the stream of students with their backpacks of books, musical instrument cases and art portfolios, I see the state’s future. When I walk into my classroom, I see students who work full-time jobs in order to support themselves and their families while pursuing an education that will pay off. They don’t know exactly how it will pay off, just as I didn’t know 40 years ago that my education would lead me here, to this classroom.

A college education sets people on paths they could not even see if not for the education. We all benefit by supporting that journey, whether or not it pencils out to a 15 percent return on individual investments.

The adults are best positioned to see this. They are the ones who need to step up.

Steve Krizman, Centennial

The writer is an assistant professor of journalism and public relations at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

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