As themarkets continue to slide and tumble, the City Council takes up the issue of education budget cuts in hearings today. See Gotham Schools' preview here, or go downtown and watch the wheels of urban democracy grind for yourself -- always sobering, from time to time, to see how the sausage gets made.

Two stories today highlight college costs -- one, on early admission, says applicants are more blithe than bothered (despite a strong focus on elite, high-tuition private schools), and the other anticipates a double-digit tuition increase in Florida.

Worth remembering: For all the focus on faraway, fancy colleges and tuitions that outstrip the 2008 Department of Health and Human Services poverty-guidelines income for a family of eight, more than half of all New York City high school graduates go on to attend CUNY two- and four-year colleges, according to former CUNY Dean and Teachers Academy head John Garvey. Of those students, 30% require remediation in reading, and twice as many -- 60% -- require math help as well. "They're not ready to begin college-level work," said Garvey. "The consequences are fairly disastrous."

What does that particular disaster look like? According to Garvey, only 2.1% of students graduate from two-year, A.A. CUNY programs on time. After three years, 10% have graduated; after six, 26% have earned the A.A. credential. At the four-year schools, grad rates are somewhat higher: 50% of students graduate with a B.A. or B.S. within six years.

It's great to aim high and reach for the academic stratosphere, but higher-ed coverage too often skews to the sky, forgetting the thousands here on the ground, in our city, under-prepared and failing out of college.