Anyone who has any concern for the skyrocketing amount of student debt in America will not enjoy the survey Inside Higher Ed released Wednesday.

The survey asked 575 college admissions directors a variety of questions about current debt levels, and one answer in particular was remarkable.

The question: What would you consider a reasonable debt level for a four-year program? Surprisingly, 42 percent said between $20,000 and $30,000 would be reasonable, and another 22 percent picked an even higher amount.

We could not disagree more. Perhaps $30,000 of debt is average or typical nowadays, but by no means does that make it reasonable.

The average debt of Kent State graduates in 2010 was $28,186, a little higher than the national norm of $25,250. So 22 percent of admissions directors essentially admitted they would be comfortable with the average student debt being even higher than it is now. Perhaps they’d be comfortable with it because they aren’t the ones who will be paying for it for years.

Students should never quiet their outrage at the price tag of college education. Universities need to put more effort into reining in any spending that doesn’t affect the quality of education.

Leaving school with tens of thousands of dollars to pay back is outrageous, and since Kent State has continued to increase tuition year after year, it’s a trend that shows no sign of stopping any time soon.

That is not reasonable. It’s a massive problem.

The above editorial is the consensus

opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial

board.