If Education is so important, why isn't it a priority in our nation?

As educators in a university, we, along with the general public are told how important public higher education is to the future of the country, but it is really not given the priority one would expect. Since 1981, higher education has been downgraded as a funding priority for government and revenue is now squeezed out of the students and parents through tuition and fee increases. The grants and loans that could be easily forgiven have been replaced with high interest loans, and student loans are seen as profit centers by financial institutions.

Students are being smothered in debt, how can they be a creative force for the future?