One of the unintended consequences of the Occupy Wall Street movement is the public discussion about the costs of a college education and the resultant huge student loan burden on young people. 

Some pundits have blamed over paid college professors for the rising cost of schools. Let me just say that college professors are not over paid. Sure, there are few that break the six figure income bracket, but they are relatively rare and senior group of faculty. Weirdly enough, the professors at community colleges around here are paid better than the local state professors. But that weirdness aside, most college professors make far less than other professions that require eight years of education. For the most part, professors, especially junior faculty, work long hours and there's a lot of stress involved with getting tenure and publications. Putting on a show for distracted kids and grading mountains of papers is no cake walk.  

Others have pointed to the diminishing revenue from state government. There's no question that state government is contributing less to state colleges, but that's the new reality. Money is not going to suddenly appear from the strapped states. So, cuts need to be made. 

We've talked about how difficult it is to make changes in the current college structure with its decentralized decision making. (Links later.) But if purposiveful changes aren't made, then we're going to end up with a situation that makes nobody happy. 

So, since I am lucky enough to have such a highly educated readership, I thought I would throw it out to the audience. Many of you are involved in higher ed as teachers, parents, or students, so you have some ideas on this topic. 

Question of the Day: How should colleges reform themselves, so that young people are not stuck with huge student loan burdens?