US Department Of Education Driving Tuition Increases

A working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research in the United States identifies financial aid policies of the United States Department of Education as the primary driver of runaway tuition increases (archived). Rather than being driven by payroll of other costs to higher education institutions, the availability of easy federal money instead has institutions raising tuition in order to grab every cheap dollar they can. Of course this creates the substantial moral hazard wherein the easy money for institutions becomes a millstone by which fledgling Americans are chained by debt to the Federal government.

8 thoughts on “US Department Of Education Driving Tuition Increases

  1. I would advise those parents who are saving USDs for college to think twice.


    TUITION = 67000
    MIN_WELFARE = 3000
    if (student.parents.balance > TUITION):
    student.parents.balance -= TUITION
    else:
    // if student can't afford school, drain account as much as possible but leave a bit for ramen noodles
    student.parents.balance = MIN_WELFARE

  2. Student loans seem like a great idea when you are in school. But when you are out, they are a weight which overshadows the rest of your life. If I could change one thing about my life, I would turn down those loans. 80k dollars in debt, and what does it get me? I can't find a job which pays enough to pay those down, so I keep getting them deffered, and the interest keeps building. My only hope is that we can elect somebody like Bernie Sanders and get the government to forgive all that student load debt.

  3. > get the government to forgive all that student load debt

    You realize that means global bankruptcy, right? The government, banks, your parents savings, gone. Not that it won't happen later, but still.

  4. > You realize that means global bankruptcy, right? The government, banks, your parents savings, gone.

    Why? There is no need for bankruptcy, the FedGov can just print a little more money if they need it. Actually, they don't even need to print the money, since they are the ones holding the debt, just cancel it. They could even offset it by cutting spending somewhere, like making less bombs to drop on innocent civilians.

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