<p>According to this U.S. News story by Kim Clark, a growing number of students are unable to pay their second-semester bills and are in danger of being forced to drop out: Unpaid</a> College Tuition Bills Rise, Survey Finds - US News and World Report</p>
<p>No surprise, but what will the colleges do? They can’t let all these kids go.</p>
<p>My guess – it will be a triage exercise, looking at studends acadamics and needs - unless you are talking about a school with a big endowment. Students on verge of probation with need will likely be told to take some time off. A students will likely get SOME emergency need, but will be told to max out loans first.</p>
<p>This is so typical of the fear-mongering hype that Newsweek and its ilk in the mainstream media do so well. The first paragraph of the article contains this sentence:</p>
<p>“More than 65 percent of the 43 college registrars who responded to an association-wide E-mail survey said that they had noticed an increase in unpaid bills this year.”</p>
<p>So, out of the thousands of colleges in the country, some 28 registrars report an increase in unpaid bills and, presto, we have a New Crisis that will, no doubt, require some Federal Intervention.<br>
What will happen is that some students will be forced to drop out. They will return when they are able to pay their bills. Other students will take on additional debt, or find part-time jobs. Or transfer to less-expensive schools.</p>
<p>The article describes what typically occurs every Spring semester as students and parents realize how expensive their dream school really is. Ya know…once that savings account is drained covering the shortage of fall semester, there isn’t anything left to cover the shortfall of Spring.</p>