High costs are making college unaffordable, or even impossible, for many Americans. Professor Nicholas Hillman outlines why student loan debt has become such a major issue. Professor Laura Perna highlights a potential solution -- free tuition programs. For More on This Topic: Read Hillman’s brief, Designing Better Ways to Regulate Colleges with Too Many Students Who Default on Federal Loans Check out Perna’s research project on college promise programs. Further Reading: Episode 52: Paying the Price, Sara Goldrick-Rab, Temple University Episode 4: The Student Debt Crisis, Nicholas Hillman, University of Wisconsin-Madison Making Loans Work for Today's College Students, Susan Dynarski, University of Michigan