When the government guaranteed student loans, it removed the risk for colleges. This allowed them to hike tuition prices unchecked, knowing students had access to funding. The resulting flood of graduates has also made a college degree less of a differentiator in the job market.

Runaway costs in education, housing, and healthcare stem from government intervention. When the government promises to provide a service (e.g., student loans), it becomes a massive "buy-only" force with no price sensitivity, eliminating natural market forces and causing costs to balloon.

The US Dept. of Education is proposing an accountability test: if a degree program's graduates don't earn more than comparable workers without that degree, the program could lose access to federal student loans. This directly links federal funding to a graduate's financial ROI.

When the government enables more money to flow into markets like higher education (via student loans) or healthcare, it removes natural market constraints on pricing. This leads to unchecked cost increases, making these essential services increasingly unaffordable for the average person.

Government programs like unlimited student loans, acting as a single-payer in healthcare, and home ownership policies have artificially inflated demand and removed price constraints. This direct intervention, intended to help, is the root cause of runaway costs in housing, education, and healthcare, making them unaffordable.

To fix the student debt crisis, universities should be financially on the hook for the first portion of any loan default (e.g., $20,000). This "first loss" position would compel them to underwrite the economic viability of their own degrees, creating a powerful market check against pushing students into overpriced and low-value programs.

Applications to flagship public universities are surging as families recognize they provide comparable career opportunities to elite private colleges at a much lower cost. This shift represents a market correction against the 'luxury good' pricing of overpriced private higher education.

Blanket student loan forgiveness fails to address the root cause: skyrocketing tuition fueled by easy credit. A better solution is to force universities to have skin in the game by making them financially liable for a percentage of defaulted loans, which would incentivize responsible lending and curb price inflation.

Blanket student debt forgiveness can unintentionally increase education prices. It creates a moral hazard where students and families are less likely to shop for the best value, assuming future debt might also be forgiven. This lack of consumer price sensitivity allows universities to raise tuition without consequence.