If the federal government is lending to students then "taxpayers" (as a collective) aren't funding colleges, the individual students are (who are taxpayers indi

If the federal government is lending to students then "taxpayers" (as a collective) aren't funding colleges, the individual students are (who are taxpayers individually, but I don't think that's what you meant). And if the government participates in loan forgiveness, then the fact that the government is also a lender isn't really relevant, because the taxpayers will be covering that bill anyway. Really, it's for the best that the federal government gets any interest from student loans, rather than private banks having a vested interest in the growth of tuition rates.