I'd like to propose a different option, one that would actually solve a lot of the current problems in the USA ... before posting a response, please read the 'w

I'd like to propose a different option, one that would actually solve a lot of the current problems in the USA ... before posting a response, please read the 'why' section below. - The government stops guaranteeing student debt to banks - Students are allowed to declare bankruptcy and discharge their debt after N number of years, if they can prove that they're financially unable to pay & the market will not bear a salary high enough to service their debt for someone with their degree - (optionally) The government stops subsidizing student loan interest Why? - If banks are liable to lose the capital in the loan, they will have incentive to make sure that the money is being spent wisely. This does mean that they'll no longer give out $100k for a hypothetical finger painting degree. - It's a societal norm that debt can be discharged in bankruptcy if a person has no assets and no income, and student loans shouldn't be straight-up exception. We have to tighten this up a little bit to make sure people don't go to college, default, and then reap all the benefits ... but disallowing bankruptcy entirely seems extreme. Optionally, we could also consider revoking their degree if they default (rough equivalent of repossession of a physical good). - College is extremely expensive right now because a flood of guaranteed, subsidize money has created fairly inelastic demand -- many students have little price sensitivity. This drives prices up. If loans are harder to get, smaller, and not subsidized, college prices come down. The big problem with the American system right now is that we've written the educational institutions a blank check. If suddenly we put even a little economic pressure on the system, costs will come down. Many of these changes couldn't be made retroactive -- loans were given out under a set of conditions agreed upon by all parties, and these determined the amount of the loans, so they shouldn't be changed. These changes could, however, improve things for future generations. One last note -- as someone who spent 5 years paying off $100k in student loans, and who now makes enough money that I'd be excluded from the 'free' (AKA 'paid by everyone else') tuition plans for my own kids, I do admit that I'm not real excited about that idea. I would be pretty ticked off if I had to pay for my own tuition, my children's tuition, and also everyone else's kids tuition.