private college

Recent graduates from private colleges and universities walked away from commencement with an average of $28,100 in student debt, according to The College Board. But not every school leaves its alumni so far in the hole.

For years now, private college tuition has risen far faster than inflation, a fact that colleges have used a fancy theory called Baumol's Law to explain away. Unfortunately for families who pay over $200,000 to send a child to one of those schools, the comparative value of the education rarely justifies the higher price.

Bernard Lander, founder of Touro College, received compensation of more than $4 million in 2008, making him the top-paid private college president that year. Touro trustees awarded the money to Lander after deciding he had been underpaid during his tenure as president, The Chronicle of Higher...

There's data out there showing that, on average, private college graduates don't graduate with that much more debt than public college graduates. But the rosy numbers don't tell the whole story, and what they leave out is costing students and their families tens of thousands of dollars.