Thousands of men and women will accept college diplomas today, hopeful in the promise that a degree will translate to increased earnings and opportunity. It will, but at the same time, many of those graduates will leave campus with thousands of dollars in debt.

As the Obama administration tackles the issue of student lending practices, an even more important discussion about college costs is beginning in earnest among those most responsible for the costs. Reforming the student loan industry is worthless without a companion effort to stop the rapidly escalating cost of higher education.

The percentage of undergraduate students who borrowed from private lenders to attend college increased from 5 percent in 2003-04 to 14 percent in 2007-08. The percentage at for-profit colleges and universities last year was 43 percent. There is now $670 billion in outstanding student debt, with default rates rising steadily.

An April report from the non-partisan research group Public Agenda outlines what college presidents, state financial officers and faculty members believe should be done to address costs, painting a discouraging picture of any prospect for success:

•“I associate the word ‘productivity’ with a business model that I don’t think necessarily maps well onto higher education.” – Faculty member at a four-year college

•“On this quality issue, faculty members don’t want to work any more than they have to, basically. … How would you reduce quality if you were teaching a class that had 15 students in it, and we said you’ve got to teach 18 students: Tell me how that reduces quality.” – A state financial officer

•“To some degree it’s amazing that some of these students are actually given a high school diploma. You wonder what it was that they studied and learned, and what was the whole basis other than seat time.” – Faculty member at a two-year college

Many of the observations in the report suggest that some players in higher education feel no responsibility to control costs beyond pointing fingers. But the report also offers suggestions that could limit costs, including improved college readiness, increased college retention efforts, an integrated preschool-through-college system and more differentiation in programs to reach a greater variety of students.

Reforms in student aid, private lending and higher education tax policy are essential in addressing college costs, but those reforms alone will not eliminate the escalating debt problem. Colleges have benefited from the growing awareness of the value of higher education without making sufficient efforts to ensure affordability. Conversations among college officials are important, but they must extend beyond campus, or colleges will find prospective students balancing the value of a degree against the burden of debt and choosing not to enroll.