One way to deal with future problems is to leave them for the future. I mentally did so in the 1980s, when college tuition was rising inexorably and still is today. As a mother of young children, I’ve seen alarming numbers and thought there would be an outcry before the first bill even hit our mailbox because the costs were so far ahead of average-income families. I guessed optimistically.

To be honest, I naively assumed that higher education families and institutions would demand public policy debate about (1) keeping colleges affordable and (2) revamping loan programs. rice field. Ultimately, these steps will lead to more educated young people joining the workforce, paying taxes, and contributing to progress and the common good.

Spoken like a loving parent looking for a rosy future. Following President Biden’s announcement last week, the government announced it would forgive outstanding loan debt of up to $10,000 per student and up to $20,000 for students who received a Pell Grant loan due to low family income. did.

If the order survives a challenge in court, the Forgiveness Plan will benefit students who took out loans believing that nothing is more important than their education. Reducing debt can really help some people because they can only attend and have never had a degree that has improved a lot in their lives.

This plan does not address the long-standing root causes of debt. Higher education was out of reach for most Americans without debt.

It is interesting to note that in the same decades, the college debt problem has skyrocketed, from $391 billion in 2005 to $811 billion in 2010 and $1.7 trillion last year. In both crises, institutions were providing essential services (healthcare or education) to individual consumers (patients or students) at prices they couldn’t afford. The end result for healthcare was the Affordable Care Act, which was imperfect and not cheap, but added access to care, stabilized the finances of both providers and consumers, and improved public health. It was a step to improve

Such does not address the cost of higher education. Complaints about the unfairness of Mr. Biden’s plan to forgive some student debt after paying off some student debt serve the most important good of all of us among the more educated masses. This is the principle behind taxpayer-supported K-12 universal education, and it has been in effect since the 8th or 12th grade was all of the schooling for most Americans. It is

This is not an endorsement of a tuition-free university. It will ultimately put more government into higher education, a model few Americans want. I am warning you about The risks are lurking, and the reality is that universities could use this as a catalyst to raise tuition fees even further.

But planning has been delayed and solutions will be incomplete. Given where all this spending ends up and what it does to inflation, allowing individuals $10,000 won’t be one of the biggest factors.

A much bigger factor is what happens next when those responsible for managing higher education must decide whether this move invites the assumption that governments will always intervene and intervene again. There are good reasons for many of the increases in education costs, including adequate salary levels for faculty. But colleges and universities will fare better by controlling spending and avoiding annual increases. Ultimately companies do it when they need to and they do it to survive. The competition that drives higher education institutions to hustle for the best and the best talent doesn’t always serve the greater good. And they are committed to the greater good. I know it because I hear it at every graduation ceremony.

Lisa McGinley is a member of The Day Editorial Board.