Vivek Wadhwa Quotes

Student loan debt is the reason I don't advise students who want to become entrepreneurs to apply to elite, expensive colleges. They can be as successful if they go to a relatively inexpensive public college.

If there were no government-guaranteed student loans, college tuition would be much lower.

The cost of college education today is so high that many young people are giving up their dream of going to college, while many others are graduating deeply in debt.

I've always cared about education, and I worked with Senator Schumer on making several thousand dollars of college tuition tax deductible. That will help a lot of your middle class families make college more affordable.

For the first time in American history, it's not clear whether or not it's smart for a 17-year-old to enroll in college. It absolutely depends on the debt load and the quality of the institution. That is a change from the way things always were and, frankly, the way things always should be. It should always be a good idea to go to college.

I was a first-generation college student. This was supposed to be the ticket to prosperity. But it wasn't. I left college with a mountain of debt and no practical skills.

I believe the American people are entitled to some straight talk when it comes to higher education funding.

I had three jobs in college. The best day of my life was when I paid off my student loans, on my own.

We all have a role to play - the President, Congress, parents, students and schools - in making college affordable and keeping the middle class dream alive.

Pell Grants are, and have been, critically important tools in making higher education a possibility for lower- and middle-income students.

The College Access and Opportunity Act addresses the important need to make higher education more affordable and easier to access for low and middle-income students.

About two-thirds of bachelor's degree holders borrow to go to school, and on average they're graduating with more than $26,000 in debt.

Borrowing to pay for college used to be the exception; now it's the rule.

By making college unaffordable and student loans unbearable, we risk deterring our best and brightest from pursuing higher education and securing a good-paying job.

College is part of the American dream. It shouldn't be part of a financial nightmare for families.

I know people think we drive around in these nice cars and we do whatever we want and our parents will pay our credit cards, but that's not the case. Sure, my parents were generous; I got a nice car at 16, but at 18 I was cut off. I've worked really hard. I opened the store myself.

You have to have a lot of money to go to college. It's not cheap.

The higher amount you put into higher education, at the federal level particularly, the more the price of higher education rises. It's the dog that never catches its tail. You increase student loans, you increase grants, you increase Pell grants, Stafford loans, and what happens? They raise the price.

Students often approached me about state-paid tuition while I was out campaigning. After I explained to them that if the state pays their tuition now, they will pay higher taxes to pay other people's tuition for the rest of their lives, most of them ended up agreeing with me.

Poorer students take out larger loans and will have to contribute more to the cost of higher education.

Middle class families are struggling to send their sons and daughters to school. For many Americans, a college education is essential to future success.

Before I was governor, tuition was skyrocketing, and we stopped that. We capped and then we froze college tuition.

One of the greatest obstacles to escaping poverty is the staggering cost of higher education.

I wish I could have skipped college.

If you're smart enough to go to college, you should be smart and creative enough to pay for it.