Big colleges have endowments, pots of money that they can use for loans to students at low interest rates. The interest paid will replenish those pots of money. For-profit student loans at high interest rates should be ended. Perhaps funds like the Ford Foundation, Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation would like to lead the way in starting a new way to provide education? Fraudulent loan programs and the students who were harmed should be dealt with through the legal system, not loan forgiveness as the first step. Let those who profited illegally be fined to pay for the harm done. Look at the paychecks of college presidents and other employees, maybe even professors. Greed seems to be playing a part in this. If college facilities are being used by for-profit companies, make them pay for the privilege, pay the total cost, not just a token amount. Big Pharma has benefitted by the Billion$ from research done at universities. Let them pay it back.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. You raise important points about how colleges manage their endowments and how private foundations could potentially play a larger role in student financing. Loan forgiveness does not address root issues. The cost of higher education deserves closer scrutiny, especially to the degree that taxpayers are forced to subsidize it. I also recommend my colleague Neal McCluskey’s piece ‘Want Better Higher Ed? Get the Feds Out’ available at Cato.org
Big colleges have endowments, pots of money that they can use for loans to students at low interest rates. The interest paid will replenish those pots of money. For-profit student loans at high interest rates should be ended. Perhaps funds like the Ford Foundation, Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation would like to lead the way in starting a new way to provide education? Fraudulent loan programs and the students who were harmed should be dealt with through the legal system, not loan forgiveness as the first step. Let those who profited illegally be fined to pay for the harm done. Look at the paychecks of college presidents and other employees, maybe even professors. Greed seems to be playing a part in this. If college facilities are being used by for-profit companies, make them pay for the privilege, pay the total cost, not just a token amount. Big Pharma has benefitted by the Billion$ from research done at universities. Let them pay it back.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. You raise important points about how colleges manage their endowments and how private foundations could potentially play a larger role in student financing. Loan forgiveness does not address root issues. The cost of higher education deserves closer scrutiny, especially to the degree that taxpayers are forced to subsidize it. I also recommend my colleague Neal McCluskey’s piece ‘Want Better Higher Ed? Get the Feds Out’ available at Cato.org
https://www.cato.org/commentary/want-better-higher-ed-get-feds-out