When Is an 'Affordable' College a Bad Deal?

Americans' drive to get an education is growing at an accelerating rate. Enrollment in degree-granting schools rose 38% between 1999 and 2009, an astounding jump considering the same metric grew by just 9% in the preceding decade.

And that growth isn't just happening at four-year colleges and universities. In 2011, a record 43% of students were enrolled in community colleges. And what was once a small niche -- for-profit education -- has burst outward, climbing from 366,000 students in 2000 to 1.5 million by 2009.

As these for-profit schools become more and more commonplace, it's worth investigating whether they are worth the price of admission.