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The stimulative effect Warren's proposal would have is almost incalculable, but imagine what's unleashed when aspiring middle class Americans are no longer yoked to student loan debt. nytimes.com/2019/04/22/us/…
There is no doubt that the current system is unsustainable. We have a higher ed ecosystem that is severely out-of-whack and needs restructuring and this kind of proposal is what's necessary to do it.
The status quo is an existential threat not just to higher ed, but the country's overall prosperity. We're already seeing end-of-capitalism proposals like ASU's InStride, which will sell online credentials to people who couldn't afford to persist in college the first time around.
Warren's proposal almost instantly dries up the demand for programs like InStride because cost is no longer a barrier to students choosing the educational path that best suits them. It also obviously puts the for-profit providers at a disadvantage, a good thing for students.
This is not just for those with debt. It's good for all of us. I think of how much of my retirement is wrapped up in my home, a house that subsequent generations won't be able to buy because of the consequences of having that student loan debt.
And neither is this radical. Public tuition was essentially free through the 60's and even beyond it was incredibly low, a few hundred $'s/ semester. Even my matriculation year U of I was only $2200 a year. It's now 15-18K.
That year was 1988, by the way. Adjusted for inflation, tuition today should only be around $5k a year. Instead, more than triple that and this is a public university. How can we imagine this is going to be sustainable?
