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I would keep the diversity of classes that the american school system provides and allow students to explore their options. Also keep the same scheduling with classes only meeting a couple times a week.

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Decrease the cost of college tuition so it gives everyone the opportunity for everyone to go also doesn't leave students broke afterwards and unable to become financially stable due to massive student loans. This is what I really like about the German schooling

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A recent edition of Newsweek features a photo of a half dozen coeds holding placards that ostensibly reflect their individual indebtedness, each of them staring into the camera with dour looks. The cover asks, "Is College a Lousy Investment?" a question that Americans are asking more and more these days. As has been well documented, college tuition has outpaced inflation for years, and the current (jaw-dropping) $1 trillion in student debt coupled with intense pressure from a variety of sources to reduce college costs has led most of us in the academy to consider ways to enhance affordability.

A number of institutions are starting by lowering tuition, reversing a trend that has seemed inexorable. Tuition pricing is something of an art and a science, with most undergraduate programs publishing a "sticker price," and then offering discounts or scholarships to reduce that amount. The average tuition discount in the U.S. for undergraduate programs last year was about 40 percent, and research indicates that students and parents perceive greater value when institutions publish a higher tuition rate. A few schools have tried -- like some car companies -- to publish a lower, "sticker price" tuition and not offer any discounts, but these efforts, for the most part, have failed to attract more students. Gary Becker, the Nobel laureate economist, and Richard Posner, the federal judge and author, have recently argued that one solution to the tuition conundrum may be to allow public schools to charge a range of tuition prices -- like private schools do -- based on the family's ability to pay. Posner cogently argues that "charging low tuition to everyone, as public colleges do for residents of the state in which the college or university is located, does not make economic sense; it merely provides windfalls to families willing and able to pay the full tuition."

Institutions like Regent University are lowering tuition to increase access, respond to the economic realities of the day, and combat a trend that must be reversed for higher education to meet its goals in America. We must find creative ways to reduce educational costs, including the use of technology (by next fall, nearly all of our bachelor's degree can be completed in three years if students take online courses to supplement the traditional on campus experience) and course redesign.

Online degree-completion programs and graduate programs, often seen as the "cash cows" of higher ed, rarely discount their prices much. Instead, they monitor national trends and respond to changes a bit like hoteliers wanting to stay competitive with an eye to the bottom line. Online for-profit colleges, which clearly see themselves as businesses first, are especially diligent in ascertaining "consumer price points" and adjusting tuition accordingly. Students should be wary and carefully analyze all costs of attendance, as some schools claim to have reduced tuition, but simply capture the lost revenue by increasing (sometimes carefully hidden) fees.

One thing is certain: tuition alone does not cover the cost of an excellent college education. Most public schools rely on state funding and private gifts to subsidize the cost of a student's education. (A very few public schools, like the University of Virginia, have raised staggering sums of money, and provide most of their own funding. Only 5.6 percent of UVA's funding comes from the state.) Private colleges instead rely on endowments and alumni gifts to help cover the cost of education. A few elite schools with endowments in excess of $1 billion can fully subsidize needy students and not suffer financially, with Harvard's financial chief recently visiting their timber holdings in Brazil in hopes of expanding their $32 billion funding nest egg.

Most experts agree that the single factor that has driven tuition costs higher over the last two decades is increases in the number of staff, often fueled by co-curricular programs and dazzling campus amenities. While faculty salaries have risen only slightly, many colleges -- competing with ferocity for the limited pool of eligible students -- have taken on a country club culture, with valet parking, gourmet meals, dry cleaning and other "services." In the days ahead, we are likely to see many institutions strip away these kinds of features, reduce costs, and focus more on their core missions. Higher tuition costs are surely driving students away, as reflected in a recent report that the total number of applicants to all British universities has fallen by 7.7 percent, largely due to tuition increases there.

Some worry that as institutions look to stay afloat during this tough economy, they will slash tuition, but overall quality may suffer. Class sizes are expanding at many schools. Academic advising departments may be streamlined. Professors, asked to do more with less, may become harried, or even apathetic. Some students are already lamenting that morale seems low on their campuses, with state budget cuts causing a wide range of dismal conditions, including program cutbacks and tuition hikes to make up for lost state revenue.

There is surely some irony in the etymology of the word "tuition," which comes from an ancient word linked to "tutor" and means "guardianship" -- likely linked to those who taught students, and then inevitably got paid for their work. What was once a guardian is now threatening to become an impediment. If a college degree is still the gateway to the middle class, we will all have to be innovative and intentional to ensure that the gate is not locked for many. Reducing tuition is a noble goal and is one of the primary ways to ensure that the dream of a college education be a reality for more Americans in the days ahead.

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A recent edition of Newsweek features a photo of a half dozen coeds holding placards that ostensibly reflect their individual indebtedness, each of them staring into the camera with dour looks. The cover asks, "Is College a Lousy Investment?" a question that Americans are asking more and more these days.

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I would like to go with Germans system of schooling when it comes to having harder classes and materials but less homework as well because if you are using the time in class productively from a teaching perspective you would have no need for a bunch of take home assignments. That also leaves students the time to go and do activities that keeps them happy and well rounded emotionally and mentally instead of burnt out.

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I would also add in a class that teaches real world essentials such as how to set up bank accounts, take out loans/ pay them, how to pay taxes, how to budget, how to use a check book,  what it would be like to pay bills.

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I would strongly stick to the American school system over the Germans schooling because I do not agree with choosing a one sided path at such a young age and closing all other doors to explore different subjects and courses that you could take.

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Suggest and give more opportunities to students who need help or tutoring in subjects they are struggling in instead of just sending them home to do more problems

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I would like for middle-schools to give more space and opportunity to give students a choice in what classes they would like to take instead of filling most of their schedule with required classes or even making up their schedule completely for them.

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I side more with the German schooling system when it comes to homework and having less or little to none for young children is better and gives them time to process and reboot almost when the busy school day is over. If you read from this article teachers and parents view it as being stressful and just plain busy work for their children.

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Story highlights

Editor's Note: Kelly Wallace is CNN's digital correspondent and editor-at-large covering family, career and life. She is a mom of two girls and lives in Manhattan. Read her other columns and follow her reports at CNN Parents and on Twitter.

And I thought Miley Cyrus ' performance at the VMAs generated a ton of opinions.

Ask parents how they feel about homework, as we did on CNN's Facebook page, and the response is immediate and intense. So many parents from all over the country sounded off passionately, saying we expect too much, too little or the wrong things from young students.

As children go back to school and parents negotiate balancing family time and take-home assignments, parents shared that their children are stressed out and exhausted by the volume of homework they receive (so, too, are parents who say they've had to become drill sergeants in their own home to get it all done).

Other parents said their kids aren't getting enough or any homework at all and they've had to create their own to keep their kids challenged. Some parents complained that their kids' homework is more busy work than helpful work to improve academic performance, while others said their kids' homework is just right - and critical to competing in a global economy.

Lisa Morguess, a mom of seven in Fullerton, California, who is against any homework in elementary school, started a blog called Hometown Homework Chronicles. It chronicles her dealings with her children's school and school district to limit the amount of homework.

"I feel that, especially in elementary school, spending six to seven hours a day in school is enough," said Morguess in an interview via e-mail. "Kids are tired after that and need to unwind and engage in nonacademic activities - many of which are just as valuable in creating a well-rounded person as academics are."

That said, Morguess concedes it's next to impossible to get her children's school or any school to begin a no-homework policy.

"The concept of homework is so ingrained in our culture that people can't and won't think about what it might be like if we just stopped making our kids do homework," said Morguess. "So I've put my foot down and refused to enforce more than 10 minutes of homework per grade level for each of my elementary school kids, which is the guideline recommended by both the National PTA and the National Education Association." (Her kids' teachers this year so far seem accepting of her policy.)

Homework: How much, how often?

On the other side of the debate is Ann Gunty, a mom of four in Flagstaff, Arizona, who doesn't understand - or support - the notion that children should have less homework or no homework at all.

"I just don't think it's the right thing to say, 'Oh, they don't need any homework. It's just too much. They should be out playing. They should only go to school,' " Gunty told me. "Making it less and less and less is contributing to us being less competitive worldwide."

Gunty's kids, who attend a school that runs from grade 5 through 12, get between one to two hours of homework, including 30 math problems every night, which she feels is appropriate, beneficial (her kids' school enjoys high test scores and strong college placement) and not intrusive on their ability to still be kids or enjoy family time.

Mozart Saint Cyr, a father or two in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, takes it bit further: He doesn't think kids today get enough homework and are so distracted by video games and social media that they're going downhill. He says parents should demand more from their kids: "If the school provided extra homework, some parents would force their kids to do (it)."

How to help your kids with homework

For many parents, the beef about homework is not whether it's too much or too little but the type of work the kids are bringing home.

"I am not an advocate for homework for the sake of homework," said Francesca Price, a pregnant mom of two sons who aren't yet school-age. "This does nothing but waste time for the student who has yet to complete it, as well as for the teacher who has to grade it, giving both of them what everyone calls 'busy work.' "

Dr. Tish Howard, a newly retired elementary school principal who continues to work with ailing schools as CEO of Edu-Linx Consulting, has never been a proponent of what she calls "tedious homework."

"If a child is struggling, homework is not the key to improvement," she said, noting how few children have parents at home to help them if they're having trouble with their homework. "Our schools need to embed intervention time at the end of each day to support the learning of that day and ensure conceptual understanding before new learning is added the next day."

Rachel Dueker, now a college sophomore in Ottawa, Kansas, says she benefited from a high school seminar class at the end of the day where she could do her homework in school - a tremendous stress reliever.

"I always did my math homework during my seminar class and went to my math teacher and sat side by side with her and got that help, and I didn't have to put in any extra time. It was given to me," Dueker said during an interview.

Music may harm your studying, study says

Rhonda Lochiatto, a 16-year teaching veteran who currently teaches fourth grade in Volusia County, Florida, came up with a unique homework policy after she realized as a parent herself how little time there is for homework once you factor in after-school activities and life in general.

"I don't require homework. In my class, I see homework as my opportunity to provide guidance to parents and offer ways for them to help their children at home," said the mom of two, who gives her students a "suggestion calendar" with optional interactive activities such as read-aloud time and topics to discuss.

"If a child has mastered a skill, there is no reason to waste time drilling it over and over, especially when they are struggling in other areas," said Lochiatto.

Opinion: U.S. lag in math, science a disaster in the making

One thing I heard repeatedly from parents on both sides of the debate is the impact homework has - or does not have - on academic performance.

Allie Eleuther, a single mom of two in Hilton Head, South Carolina, said it has been proven there is little value in homework. "More is not always better and does not result in kids getting a better education and doing better on standardized tests."

Shay Hardin, a single mother of two, believes the movement away from homework is hurting our children's performance and the United States overall. "This is why many countries are already beginning to exceed the U.S. in terms of educational rank," she said.

Who's right?

If only it were a black and white issue, but it's not.

A 2012 study found no relationship between the amount of time spent on homework and grades, but did find a positive link between homework and performance on standardized tests. A 2006 analysis of homework studies found a link between time spent on homework and achievement, but found it was much stronger in secondary school versus elementary school. That analysis also found that for junior high school students, homework reaches the point of diminishing return at around 90 minutes, and between 90 minutes and 2.5 hours for high schoolers.

"We just need to figure out what the right dosage is," said Erik Entrikin, a father of three whose girls sometimes get up earlier than their normal 5:30 a.m. wake-up time just to finish their homework. "Currently, it is much too high."

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The great homework debate: Too much, too little or busy work? | CNN

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Editor's Note: Kelly Wallace is CNN's digital correspondent and editor-at-large covering family, career and life. She is a mom of two girls and lives in Manhattan. Read her other columns and follow her reports at CNN Parents and on Twitter. And I thought Miley Cyrus ' performance at the VMAs generated a ton of opinions.

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Sick to the American School system and use a lot of hands on activities like these children are doing with building complex structures and letters to continue the developmental learning by touch and seeing.

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I also agree with Robing Hood Forest Kindergarten method of spending half of their school day out side and learning with sight and touch and using realistic ways to teach the children.

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Do you suffer from a lack of nature in your life? How might attending a kindergarten like this have changed you?

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I like the idea of starting off by building a child's creativity and sense of awareness on the outside just as much on the inside