My future is hocked.  I never got a Pell grant but I do have 178k in student loans for U Michigan and UVA, and interest is growing.  I'll never be in a position to pay that off and my only hope is that the Board of Veterans Appeals will abide by the medical evidence I submitted and grant me 100% disability.  In which case those loans are forgiven by a recent law.  Or I marry here in Germany and walk away from the US entirely (nanne will you marry me?  I can be in Berlin in 3 hours!)

By contrast, I am attempting to write my dissertation at FSU Jena, Germany, where I pay no tuition and 190 euro a semester for student fees.

My experience has shown me that excellent higher education happens in former socialist states.  Unless you can afford it.  And unless you consider a university who gave us Schiller, Schlegel, Hegel and Marx a substandard education.

"Schiller sprach zu Goethe, Steck in dem Arsch die Flöte! Goethe sagte zu Schiller, Mein Arsch ist kein Triller!"