The main argument for government subsidies to college education is that it more than pays for itself due to higher earnings and taxes paid by college graduates.

The main argument for government subsidies to college education is that it more than pays for itself due to higher earnings and taxes paid by college graduates. If college is so effective in increasing earnings, borrowers should be able to repay their loans from those earnings. The Federal government should stop lending money for college. College costs would drop if it did, and private lenders would lend to good risks -- good students studying things likely to land them well-paying jobs. The article has less ambitious but more politically feasible recommendations: "Lawmakers should see this as an opportunity to fix the problems that got the federal student-loan program into its current state. Start by making colleges financially responsible for unpaid student loans, as a disincentive to loading students up with debt they can’t repay. In addition, Congress should cap or eliminate currently unlimited loans to graduate students and parents of undergraduates, which are most responsible for rises in total outstanding debt."