We believe that private colleges offer the ticket to a better life. But a closer look demonstrates a more expensive degree does not ensure a higher income after graduation.

The relationship between higher education and the aspirations of a student is constantly being renegotiated. It is not being eliminated. Not in 1976, and certainly not today.

The problem is that we've come to expect that every child has the right to attend any institution willing to accept him or her, regardless of the cost. And that somebody, somewhere, will foot the bill or forgive the loans.

-- Looking for a college bargain? Try any of nine University of Puerto Rico campuses, where annual tuition hovers at or below $2,000. Counting penni...