To the average student or parent, the college-loan fiasco that has unfolded over the past few months is as about as easy to understand as the federal tax code. Far clearer is the severity of the problem.

Students pay interest rates of anywhere from 6.8% to 18% for college loans. The higher end of that range borders on usury. Repaying the average loan — $20,000 — over 10 years at the top rate costs more than twice that amount.

That's no way to start a career, but the problem is affecting more and more students. The size of an average loan has doubled in a decade. And every week, it seems, some college financial aid officer gets the boot for accepting discounted stock, golf outings or boozy lunches from deep-pocketed lenders seeking preferred positions...

Earlier this year, the money train finally crashed, as independent investigations by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and think tanks such as New America Foundation exposed the practices...

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