is an insurmountable obstacle for many. I don't really like the idea of handing out college money, but I don't like the idea of 22 year olds starting life with basically a mortgage, either.

There's got to be some way to both help young people who really want and would thrive in college, and still make it a good investment for John Q Taxpayer.

IMHO, the real problem is runaway college costs.

If you'll indulge me a brief story...

My dad grew up one of 11 kids on a tobacco farm. The life that was predestined for you in that area was you would graduate HS, find a nice girl to marry, your parents and her parents would get together and find some land for you to call your own, and you'd start your own farm and family. That was really the only option.

One day, the HS football coach asked my dad if he had ever thought about college (um, no!). He said he wasn't even talking about football, he just thought my father "would do well at college."

There are some funny stories along the way if you know the people involved, but since you don't, I'll skip them. The story ends with his mom pulling him aside one day, asking if he was serious about this college-thing, handing him a check and telling him to do well. A few months later, his sister drove him to Blacksburg and dropped him off in front of Burruss without much fanfare.

Which is all to say that in 1958, a relatively impoverished tobacco farmer with 11 kids could pay cash for their kid to go to college.

When I got there as a freshman in 1988, college was considered a little pricey, but the public schools like VT weren't TOO bad. Basically, my college education cost about the same as a nice car. Not easy to afford, but not something that takes a 30 year mortgage either.

The economics of going to college today are completely out of whack compared to history.