Breaking Point: The College Affordability Crisis and Our Next Financial Bubble

In recent decades, the crisis of college affordability has emerged as one of the defining challenges of our era. Since 1978, college tuition and fees have soared by 1,120 percent, growing at three times the rate of housing prices and four times the rate of the increase in the hourly wage. The inevitable consequence has resulted in a national student debt that surpassed $1.3 trillion in 2015, crushing the average household under $35,000 in student debt. Breaking Point explains flaws in the structure of higher education that have caused college prices to soar over our lifetime, including “prestige maximization,” a perpetual “amenities war,” and a predatory lending industry that has not only fostered but encouraged the explosion of college costs. To counter this trend, Kevin Connell proposes several bold solutions that are intended to induce colleges and lenders alike to redefine the structure, price, and ultimate purpose of higher education in America.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction: The Ticking Time Bomb Chapter 1: Sowing the Seeds of Crisis Chapter 2: Tanked By Rank Chapter 3: Penniless for Perks Chapter 4: Lending Roots: Inception of Greed Chapter 5: Sallie Mae: The Rise of a Lending Empire Chapter 6: Rigged Chapter 7: Breaking Backs to Balance Budgets Chapter 8: A Stake in the Game Chapter 9: The New American College & University

About the Author :
Kevin W. Connell is an associate attorney at Ferrara Fiorenza PC where he specializes in Education Law and Labor & Employment Law. Representing roughly 200 public school districts throughout New York State, Kevin works on a myriad of practice areas. These include student and faculty discipline, free speech, religion in schools, special education, board governance, labor relations, and unlawful discrimination. Kevin also assists with the investigation and resolution of complaints made to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and New York State Division of Human Rights. Kevin is a cum laude graduate of the University of Rochester, where he graduated in 2015. Following his undergraduate studies, Kevin attended William & Mary Law School. During law school, Kevin was the President of the American Constitution Society, Spong Tournament Justice for the William & Mary Moot Court Team, and a member of the William & Mary Environmental Law & Policy Review. Kevin received several honors for his service, including induction into The Order of the Barristers and Next Generation Leaders. After graduating from William & Mary Law School in 2018, Kevin was admitted to the New York State Bar. In addition to his work as a practicing attorney, Kevin continues to promote college affordability and productivity with students, school districts, legislators, and activists throughout the United States.

Review :
This thoughtful and provocative book highlights the problems that contribute to intolerable debt burdens and limited job prospects for too many students. Kevin Connell makes an important contribution to the debate on how we can improve our global competitiveness while satisfying the legitimate needs of students who are poorly served by today’s education-financial complex. Kevin Connell has covered new ground and uncovered old problems in his incisive analysis of what ails higher education. This is a great read for anyone interested in the growing crisis in American universities arising out of an increasingly perverse economic environment in which schools operate. Amid our then-rising space race and international conflict with the Soviet Union, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act in 1958 to make college affordable and available. Aimed at “strengthening the economy, improving innovation, and ensuring national security,” this cost-effective program helped America compete globally. It also helped millions reach the sprawling middle class and realize their life’s ambition. Spurning this simple and practical objective, however, universities, college financial lenders, and an indifferent Congress have let college pricing explode in recent decades, forgetting the students they exist to serve. Breaking Point is a well-researched book which seeks to right this program’s wrongs, thus ensuring that college students receive college degrees that once again help graduates achieve the American Dream.