Experts link high education levels with better health, work productivity and economic growth, but what happens when tuition costs continually increase, employment opportunities fizzle and student debt hits $904 billion?

Since the 1990s the average tuition rate at 4-year universities have doubled. The average cost of attending an in-state university was $20,000 and the average cost of attending a private school was $40,000 in 2010-2011 according to the National Center for Education and Statistics.

Tuition at U. Arizona for residents has increased 82 percent since 2007 and is approximately $9,300 per semester. In the last year alone, in-state tuition rose 17 percent, the largest increase out of all Arizona universities and the second highest spike in the nation next to California State University, whose tuition rose 25 percent in 2011.

And to make the situation brighter, unemployment rates of recent 2011 graduates are at 9.1 percent, a national high.

On top of the outlandish tuition costs and high unemployment, student loan interest rates are expected to increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on June 30, 2012. Legislative action could stop the increase, but it would cost the government $6 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office to extend the lower interest rate.

Is an increase in loan interest rates really that bad?

Here’s something to consider: The government provides students loan to those in need and want of a college education. For example, the popular unsubsidized federal Stafford loan gives a student $6,063 per year. Universities realize they won’t get as much out-of-pocket money from students, so they raise tuition. Raising tuition makes students cry to the government for lower interest rates and higher loan amounts. This cycle continues and ends up costing taxpayers and the federal government more money along the way.

Is there one right answer to the student loan crisis? It’s the chicken or the egg.

Does the blame fall on the higher education system and the federal government? These are the entities that determine the cost of education and the amount of aid available. Statistically 50 percent of graduates are either unemployed or in jobs that don’t require degrees. Two-thirds of college seniors who graduated in 2010 had an average debt of $25, 250 according to an article by The New York Times.

Is it fair to financially drain students with high tuition and high interest rates, in return for a degree that promises only half of their graduating class a job?

At the other end of the spectrum, there are the college students who flounder away money for four years and end up with a whimsical degree that won’t help them pay back their loans. Eight million people rely on taxpayer subsidized Stafford loans and nearly 9 percent or 720,000 students default on them according to a report by the U.S. Department of Education. This rate is higher than delinquency rates of mortgages, auto loans and personal credit card debt according to economists.

Are lazy students to blame for squandering federal money? Or the job market?

The answer is not simple. Just like the housing bubble and unemployment, there is no quick fix. It’s going to take time. The education system needs a makeover that maintains opportunity for those in need of academic loans, wisely allocates taxpayer money and finds more innovative ways to pay for college expenses.

Don’t believe any politician that promises they will fix the student debt problem if elected. Ask in return how they will first fix the unemployment rates. The reason education is worth the investment, is because it secures a job. Until our country renews job security, a college degree can only take you so far.