Student loan figures indicate a growing affordability problem in higher education. The Federal Reserve reports that student loan debt in the United States is almost $1.6 trillion today, with 42 percent of people who attended college — which represents 30 percent of all adults — incurring at least some debt from their education. With a focus on technology-based degree programs, the cost to attend college is rising. But it’s not just tuition that’s going up. According to College Board, the cost of housing exceeds the cost of tuition at four-year, public universities. For the 2017-2018 academic year, students paid an average of $9,970 for in-state tuition while room and board ran $10,800. “There’s a real need to get to the middle of the market and to build quality housing that students can afford,” says Joe Coyle, president of Michaels Student Living. Michaels Student Living is a specialized area of expertise within The Michaels Organization, a leading affordable housing developer in the United States. “Housing is a big part of what contributes to the high cost of attending college. We have to work together to find ways to mitigate this. It’s going to become more and more important.” While the student …
