College costs must be brought under control

In her column elsewhere on this page Sen. Carla Nelson addresses the dilemma facing college graduates who are seeing their student loan payments resume after being frozen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Everyone agrees that the soaring cost of a college education places an enormous financial burden on students in Minnesota and throughout the nation. As Sen. Nelson says, the debt loads make it difficult to achieve those post-college goals such as buying a home, getting married, starting a family.
She also says she is committed to other career pathways, mentioning Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO), Bridges to Healthcare, C-Tech, and P-Tech.
Students in Dodge and surrounding counties are lucky that many of these alternative pathways are already available to them.
Many students in Byron, Hayfield, Kasson-Mantorville, and Triton are enrolled in PSEO classes. This program allows students in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades to earn both high school and college credits while still in high school, through enrollment in and successful completion of, college courses at participating postsecondary institutions. There is no charge to PSEO students for tuition, books, or fees.
Students are also able to take concurrent classes where they earn college credits from courses taught at the high school by high school faculty specifically approved to teach college level classes. Again, these are at no cost to the student.
Schools have also partnered with local companies to offer students an opportunity to learn skills that will enable them to enter the workforce prepared for a future career.
Triton, for example, has partnered with local industries to explore career fields in a variety of areas including agriculture, food and natural resources; arts, communication, and information systems; business management; engineering, manufacturing and technology; health science technology, and human services.
All of these, and other, programs provide alternative paths to a post-secondary education while reducing the debt burden on students.
The cost of higher education has skyrocketed in recent years, making it out of reach for many students.
These programs at the high school level offer a way to get the training and education needed while keeping the cost more reasonable.
We agree with Sen. Nelson that more emphasis should be placed on these alternative pathways to careers.
A local business closes its doors
Last week, the owner of Ryan’s Foods in Hayfield announced that the grocery store would be closing. The reason was not a lack of business. The building housing the grocery store needs the roof completely replaced and no options could be found to do the work at an affordable cost. Efforts to find a new location also were unsuccessful.
Like many small towns Hayfield will now find itself without a full-service grocery store. Dollar General and Casey’s can fill some of the void, but these two cannot completely supply the needs of the community.
Hayfield is essentially a bedroom community with most residents working somewhere else. Many residents work in Austin or Dodge Center, both communities with grocery stores.
Jim Baldus, owner of Ryan’s Foods, also owns Jim’s Marketplace in Austin and said he has Hayfield residents who work in Austin already stop at the store.
Hayfield residents will still be able to buy groceries, but the fact remains that it is a sad situation when more and more small businesses are finding it impossible to stay in business.