As a teacher, I value education to the utmost.  Over my lifetime, I have earned four degrees, learned a few languages, and read a ton of books.  In my eyes, obtaining knowledge is fun, motivating and life-changing.  However, these days I have a real problem with higher education and its runaway costs.  In its current form, higher education benefits academia, banks, and politicians while creating a generation of future debt slaves. Over the last thirty years college tuition, room, and board have become insanely expensive. For example, in 1982, my freshman year, total costs at my alma mater (Davidson College...go 'Cats!) were $7,700 a year, but today it costs a cool $60,000 a year...whiskey tango hotel!  To be fair, that horse-choking number represents the annual cost at a prestigious private college.  It's also true that few students graduate with student loan debt over $100K, but I'd hate to start my working career with a $50k-75k anchor around my neck.…