Why are student's college debt increasing as time goes on?

Yes, the cost of college has gone up far more than most other expenses in the last 40 years. But it does give you the benefit of a college degree that will make you far more employable than most high school students. On the other hand, you had choices when you applied to college. You could have chosen community college for two years, chosen a state university over a private school, or gone to school part time and worked a job while you got your education -- as many students do. Parents try to warn their kids about taking on excessive amounts of loan debt, but all the students think about is, "I want to go off to school like my friends and have a good time." There is SO much information out there on the Internet -- why don't high school students take advantage of that and do some research ahead of time?