Stop me if you’ve had this dream before: Armed with pockets stuffed to overflowing with cash, you stroll into the bank that handled your student loan, slap those sweaty wads of paper currency on the proverbial barrelhead, and walk away …

So as state-funded university tuition rises faster than the inflation rate, grants are becoming nonexistent, and students are actually looking abroad to complete their education cheaper and in half the time, Congressmen cozy with the RIAA are threatening to cut their funding more if they don’t play ball with the recording labels.

At a time when unemployment is high, personal income is flat, and college-level education is a requirement for most well-paying jobs, public colleges continue to become less affordable for students and families.

“You don’t go to school once in a lifetime; you are in school all of your life. That’s why they call graduation ‘commencement’ – it’s just the beginning.” Harvey MacKay author of “Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive”