Why is 23K the magic number?

Sandy Baum claims, "…While the sticker price for attending college continues to climb, the net cost — after taking into account grants and discounts — is actually lower now than five years ago." (I'm pulling this quote from a poster here from Jacques Steinberg's NYT piece).

What is she talking about? Can anyone explain this claim to me? I know Edububble is confused by the continued numbers that supposedly demonstrate an accurate reading of college debt.

Truth is, we've all been sold a bill of goods. Edububble also brings up how many of us are deliberately misled. He's following one of my favorite blogs - Temporary Attorney.com - and mentioned a number of comments there about employment promises. Apparently people think that schools lie about the success rates of their graduates. Gasp! How could that be? I mean, it's like thinking The College Board is filled with sycophants who want to hide the truth from future borrowers by spinning numbers just the right way. Welcome to the student debt trap.