Students heading to post-secondary education are facing unprecedented levels of debt.
Just in time for the start of another school year, the federal government has announced that unpaid student debt is expected to top $15 billion later this month. That's an important number because legislation that governs the student loan system states outstanding student debt can't surpass that figure.
What's the federal government's solution? Redefine how it calculates "outstanding student debt" so the amount is less than $15 billion.
That may help out the government, but it does little for students faced with a crushing debt load to get a necessary education.
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff revealed the beginnings of a plan that might do something to ease the students' situation.  During a speech to the Liberal caucus he suggested going to college or university should be based solely on academic performance. "If you get the marks, you get to go," was the idea.
But whether that meant reforming the student loan system so it's easier to get loans, forcing institutions to cut tuition or vastly increase scholarships, or having the government directly pay for post-secondary education, he didn't say.
But something has to be done.
Our corporate society demands not just an education, but a specific education, as necessary to get specialized jobs. The days of being able to work your way up by learning an industry from stockroom to the boardroom are long gone; the days of being able to capitalize on the learning base of a general degree are a thing of the past too. Today, high school students choose a specific job position or career, and tailor their high school, extracurricular activities, and post-secondary education to achieve that goal.
Along the way, getting that all-important degree or diploma will saddle them with thousands in debt, that even with the high-paying, ultra-specialized jobs they expect to get, will take years to pay off. Add to that student debt the expense of starting a family, buying a house, perhaps starting a personal business, and all the other expenditures of starting out in life, and it's no wonder it takes two 100k incomes for a household to survive - and never mind trying to put away savings.
Does the prospect of spending years in debt stop some students from going on to post-secondary education? Probably.
Given the economic uncertainty of the past couple of years, there must be thousands of students in their final years of university or college wondering if they'll even have that 100k job waiting when they graduate.
And the debt load issue is just one facet of the problems with the student loan system, where we hear stories of students who can't get loans, who have their loans cut back because they took the initiative and saved ahead of time, and so on.
And student loans are in turn just one part of funding issues that seem to plague the entire education system from preschool and all-day Kindergarten right up to research grants for post-doctoral work.
Politicians say "students are the future" and talk about boosting the country's competitiveness and productivity - but do nothing concrete to solve the multitude of problems that have developed in the system
Reforming student loans would be a good place to start. Perhaps we should return to the old-fashioned model where business invested directly in education by recruiting and then training employees, who were treated with loyalty and respect and valued as lifelong contributors to the company.
It might not work. But it's something to consider, rather than political platitudes and changing definitions that do nothing to deal with the real issue.