One thing that would immediately bring down higher education costs would be to make student load debt dischargeable in bankruptcy, just like credit card debt.
As it stands there is a strong incentive to lend money to any prospective student, regardless of how useless their course of study is because there is no way to get out from under that debt. If student loans were as risky as other forms of credit there would be an incentive to only lend to those who were likely to repay, and a lot of the money that’s sloshing around the system would vanish.
Of course the Left doesn’t care about incentives any more than they care about results. The solution to distortions caused by government intervention is always more government intervention.
My first instinct is not to see dischargeable in bankruptcy as bringing down costs, significantly, if at all. As the burden of the loan is the student’s, the bankruptcy burden remains with the student as well.
I recently heard a proposal that if bankruptcy would be dischargeable, then it should include the college for being responsible for some of the repayment. I don’t see this as a way to reduce cost either as the college will have to build in the cost to cover their risk.
One fundamental problem is getting money for college is too easy - especially if one wants to humiliate himself in the FASFA process. Anyone who wants to go to college can get all the money needed without impediment, including no real barrier on borrower creditworthiness. The government protects itself by making bankruptcy as non-dischargeable, and dragging parents in as cosigners of guaranteed loans. The problem is further exacerbated by those colleges who accept academically unprepared students as a way to bring more $ into their coffers. Then require unprepared students take remedial courses, which can lengthen time (cost) at the university - a testament to the failure of elementary and secondary education. Who is worse off -students who leave college with no degrees and student loan debt; or graduates with useless degrees and even larger debt? The former at least cut their losses.
Colleges aren’t taking any responsibility - they are enablers - hurting the very people they supposedly are trying to “educate”. There seems to be some people catching on and questioning whether they will impoverish themselves or their families by going into debt. Eventually this boil should burst.
One thing that would immediately bring down higher education costs would be to make student load debt dischargeable in bankruptcy, just like credit card debt.