-- MICHAEL L. ATCHISON, Richland

How to make higher education more affordable?

Start by making high school diplomas relevant again. 50 percent of our students from high school should graduate with a certification in a career that will allow them to live independently (licensed electrician, plumber, hair stylist, painter, etc.). We need to stop telling everyone to go to college and honor those people whose employment does not require advanced degrees.

Then have the funding of higher education departments dependent on the first-year wages of their graduates. The higher the wages, and the larger the number of graduates employed, the larger the funding (and classes available) for that department.