President Biden is trying again to implement a widespread student loan cancellation package, and again the administration has run into a pesky obstacle—the Constitution. In April, the Biden-Harris administration announced its second attempt to “fix the student loan system” and forgive millions of student borrowers’ debt. And again, the plan has been blocked by federal courts.
While the administration’s efforts remain in legal limbo, the practical, real-life implications are clear: this misguided mainstay of President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’ education platform would incentivize colleges to raise tuition costs, diminish the value of a post-secondary degree, and set the stage for continued undoing and redoing as future administrations assume office all creating real uncertainty for students. Not to mention, the unilateral action—which the Supreme Court has already ruled violates the Separation of Powers principle—would saddle everyday taxpayers with the enormous cost of subsidizing the education of the wealthy and highly educated.
Sadly, putting ideology ahead of practicality has become a hallmark of the Biden-Harris administration. The president and his advisors seem to care more about symbolic victories than the impact its policies have on students and their families, employers, and taxpayers, as well as those who choose not to attend college or instead choose to attend vocational training and trade schools.
This is true even when you look at the Department’s own rulemaking. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released its Gainful Employment (GE) rule as part of a massive trove of new regulations designed to establish new safeguards for university students at the detriment of career institutions. The ED insists this new rule is needed to protect students from “unaffordable debt or insufficient earnings from career development programs.” However, in practice, this new rule will have disastrous consequences for students and the higher educational landscape in general.
Consequently, more than 700,000 students roughly the population of the District of Columbia stand to lose access to the educational programs of their choice when the GE Rule takes full effect. These students will have little choice but to apply to traditional four-year institutions, many of which are expensive and unlikely to offer an equivalent degree. Some students may discontinue their education altogether, having initially chosen to pursue a nontraditional education for a reason. Such an outcome should be troubling to anyone who values closing the skills gap and promoting equal access to education.
Read the full article here.
Steve Pociask is president and CEO of the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, visit www.TheAmericanConsumer.org or follow us on X @ConsumerPal.