It seems like everyone is either cheering or jeering the student loan forgiveness recently announced by President Biden. While there are good arguments to be made on either side of the debate over whether this is a good idea, both sides are missing the forest for the trees, the reason student loan debt is even an issue: government-backed student loans.

By guaranteeing loans to all students to cover tuition, the federal government enabled colleges and universities to charge whatever they wanted, and that’s exactly what they did. Higher education costs have exploded in recent decades, to the point where banks stopped issuing student loans because the amount of money needed was deemed too great a risk. Banks were unsure the loans would be repaid, so the government took over, guaranteeing institutions of higher learning every penny they charged. 

That doesn’t make sense. If things don’t change, college will cost over $100,000 per year within a decade, plunging ever-increasing numbers of graduates into insurmountable debt. 

Simply forgiving student loans does not solve the problem. Higher education must become more affordable. The only way to do that is to stop guaranteeing full student loans. This will force schools to lower their tuition or face a steep drop in enrollment. 

Forgiving current student loans will not prevent exorbitant future loans or make college more affordable. The only way to do that is to abolish government student loans.